ABSTRACT
As-produced CNTs mainly exist either in bundles of SWCNTs, containing hundreds of tubes hexagonally packed,24, 32, 33 or are highly entangled in the case of MWCNTs. These bundles are –Š‡”‘†›ƒ‹…ƒŽŽ›•–ƒ„‹Ž‹œ‡†„›ɎȂɎ‹–‡”ƒ…–‹‘•Ǥ ‹‰—”‡ʹǤͳ•Š‘™• a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image of a SWCNT bundle. Š‹•’ƒ”–‹…—Žƒ”‹–›”‡ƒ‹•ƒ„‘––Ž‡‡…ˆ‘”–Š‡—•‡‘ˆ•ƒ•ϐ‹ŽŽ‡” in a polymer matrix since they have the trend to remain bundled, or entangled, even after attempts to disperse them. It was, indeed, stressed by Baughman et al.34 that bundling results in diminished mechanical and electrical properties as compared to theoretical predictions related to individual CNTs. Notably, the presence of CNT „—†Ž‡•”‡†—…‡•–Š‡‡ơ‡…–‹˜‡‡••‘ˆ•ƒ•”‡‹ˆ‘”…‹‰ƒ‰‡–•ǡ35 or ƒ•…‘†—…–‹˜‡ ϐ‹ŽŽ‡”• ‹ƒ‘…‘’‘•‹–‡•Ǥ36 Additionally, for a given •›•–‡ǡ Š‹‰Š‡” ϐ‹ŽŽ‡” Ž‘ƒ†‹‰• ƒ”‡ ”‡“—‹”‡† –‘ ‘„–ƒ‹ ƒ ’”‘’‡”–› ‡Šƒ…‡‡–™‹–Šƒ‰‰”‡‰ƒ–‡†ϐ‹ŽŽ‡”•–Šƒ™‹–Š‹†‹˜‹†—ƒŽ‹œ‡†‘‡•ǡ •‹…‡–Š‡Žƒ––‡”Šƒ˜‡ƒ•‹‰‹ϐ‹…ƒ–Ž›Š‹‰Š‡”ƒ•’‡…–”ƒ–‹‘ƒ†•—”ˆƒ…‡ area.
