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Enhanced acoustic damping in flexible polyurethane foams filled with carbon nanotubes

2008; Elsevier BV; Volume: 69; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.compscitech.2008.07.003

1879-1050

Raquel Verdejo, Rolf Stämpfli, Mónica Álvarez-Láinez, Safer Mourad, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez‐Pérez, P. A. Brühwiler, Milo S. P. Shaffer,

Polymer composites and self-healing

Flexible polyurethane (PU) foams, with loading fractions of up to 0.2 wt% carbon nanotubes (CNTs), were made by free-rising foaming using water as blowing agent. Electron microscopy revealed an open cellular structure and a homogeneous dispersion of CNTs, although the incorporation of nanofiller affected the foaming process and thus the final foam density and cellular structure. The compressive response of the foams did not show an unambiguous improvement with CNT content due to the variable foam structure. However, dense films generated by hot pressing the foams indicated a significant intrinsic reinforcement of the polymer, even at low loadings of CNTs. Most significantly, CNTs were found to increase the acoustic activity monotonically at concentrations up to 0.1 wt%.