Temperature-Activated Interfacial Friction Damping in Carbon Nanotube Polymer Composites

Effect of temperature on interfacial sliding in single-walled carbon nanotube polycarbonate composites is investigated experimentally. We show that interfacial slip at the tube−polymer interfaces can be activated at relatively low dynamic strain levels (∼0.35%) by raising temperature to ∼90 °C. We attribute this to increased mobility of the polymer chain backbones at elevated temperatures and thermal relaxation of the radial compressive stresses at the tube−polymer interfaces. These results show the potential of polymer nanocomposites as high-temperature damping materials for vibration and acoustic suppression in a variety of dynamic systems.