Double-walled carbon nanotube/zirconia composites: Preparation by spark plasma sintering, electrical conductivity and mechanical properties

Anne Kasperski (1) , Alicia Weibel (1) , Dalya Al-Kattan (1) , Claude Estournès (1) , Christophe Laurent (1) , Alain Peigney (1)

1 CIRIMAT - Centre interuniversitaire de recherche et d'ingenierie des matériaux

Double-walled carbon nanotube/yttria-stabilized zirconia composite powders with carbon contents up to 6.3 wt% are prepared by soft covalent functionalization of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) followed by mixing with a nanometric yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) powder. Composites are densified by spark plasma sintering (SPS). The composites present an electrical conductivity (0.09–0.88 S cm−1) which is among the highest values reported in the literature. Both the fracture strength (σf) and the single-edged notched beam fracture toughness (KIc) are measured for the first time on CNT/YSZ composites. The best mechanical properties (σf=694 MPa; KIc=7 MPa m1/2), obtained for low carbon contents (up to 1.2 wt%), are among the highest reported up to now. However, the fracture toughness is lower than that of the YSZ ceramic (KIc=10.3 MPa m1/2) whose mechanical properties are outstanding, taking into account its very fine microstructure.

Mots clés: Composites; Carbonnanotubes; Yttriastabilizedzirconia(YSZ); Sparkplasmasintering(SPS)

Domaines: Matériaux

Anne Kasperski, Alicia Weibel, Dalya Al-Kattan, Claude Estournès, Christophe Laurent, et al.. Double-walled carbon nanotube/zirconia composites: Preparation by spark plasma sintering, electrical conductivity and mechanical properties. Ceramics International, 2015, vol. 41, pp. 13731-13738. ⟨10.1016/j.ceramint.2015.08.034⟩. ⟨hal-01449152⟩