Development and modification of conventional Ouali model for tensile modulus of polymer/carbon nanotubes nanocomposites assuming the roles of dispersed and networked nanoparticles and surrounding interphases.

In this paper, conventional Ouali model for tensile modulus of composites is developed for polymer/carbon nanotubes (CNT) nanocomposites (PCNT) assuming the influences of filler network and dispersed nanoparticles above percolation threshold as well as the interphases between polymer host and nanoparticles which reinforce the nanocomposite and facilitate the networking. The developed model is simplified, because the characteristics of dispersed nanoparticles and surrounding interphase cannot significantly change the modulus of PCNT. The suggested model is compared to the experimentally measured modulus of some samples, which can calculate the percolation threshold of interphase regions and the possessions of interphase and filler network. The suggested model correctly predicts the influences of all parameters on the modulus. Thinner and longer CNT in addition to thicker interphase enhance the volume fraction of interphase which shifts the connectivity of interphase regions to smaller nanoparticle fraction and improves the modulus of PCNT. A very low level of percolation threshold significantly develops the modulus, but its high ranges have not any role. Among the studied parameters, the thickness and modulus of interphase between polymer host and networked nanoparticles play the most important roles in the modulus of PCNT.