Study on the Effects of the Interphase Region on the Network Properties in Polymer Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposites

The interphase region around nanoparticles changes the percolation threshold of long and thin nanoparticles, such as carbon nanotubes (CNT) in polymer nanocomposites. In this paper, the effects of the interphase region on the percolation threshold of nanoparticles and the network fraction are studied. New percolation threshold (φ(P)) is defined by the role of the interphase in the excluded volume of nanoparticles (V(ex)). Moreover, the influences of filler and interphase size on the percolation volume fraction, the fraction of nanoparticles in the network as well as the volume fraction and relative density of the filler network are investigated. The least ranges of “φ(P)” are obtained by thin and long CNT. Similarly, a thick interphase increases the “V(ex)” parameter, which causes a positive role in the percolation occurrence. Also, thin CNT and a thick interphase cause the high fraction of the filler network in the nanocomposites.