5. Polymer nanocomposites using urchin-shaped carbon nanotube-silica hybrids as reinforcing fillers. Zhang WD*, Phang IY, Shen L, Chow SY, Liu TX*. MACROMOL. RAPID COMMUN. 25 (21): 1860-1864, 2004.
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been grown on MCM-41 supported Fe nanoparticles and the as-prepared (no further purification) CNT-silica hybrid was directly incorporated into nylon-6 (PA6) by simple melt-compounding. The urchin-shaped CNT-silica hybrid filler was observed to be homogeneously dispersed throughout the matrix by scanning 1 electron and transmission electron microscopy. Compared with neat PA6, the tensile modulus and strength of the composite are greatly improved by about 110%, with incorporation of only 1 wt.-% CNT-silica filler.