Direct measurements of the mechanical strength of carbon nanotube-poly(methyl methacrylate) interfaces

Understanding the interfacial stress transfer between carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and polymer matrices is of great importance to the development of CNT-reinforced polymer nanocomposites. In this paper, an experimental study is presented of the interfacial strength between individual double-walled CNTs and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) using an in situ nanomechanical single-tube pull-out testing scheme inside a high-resolution electron microscope. By pulling out individual tubes with different embedded lengths, this work reveals the shear lag effect on the nanotube-polymer interface and demonstrates that the effective interfacial load transfer occurs only within a certain embedded length. These results show that the CNT-PMMA interface possesses an interfacial fracture energy within 0.054-0.80 J/m² and a maximum interfacial strength within 85-372 MPa. This work is useful to better understand the local stress transfer on nanotube-polymer interfaces. The interfacial strength between individual double-walled carbon nanotubes and poly(methyl methacrylate) is characterized using an in situ nanomechanical single-tube pull-out testing scheme inside a high-resolution electron microscope. These measurements reveal the shear lag effect on the nanotube-polymer interface and demonstrate that the effective interfacial load transfer occurs only within a certain embedded length.