Mechanical and electrical properties of carbon nanotubes based acrylonitrile butadiene styrene nanocomposite fabricated using fused deposition method

A Polymer can enhance its properties by addition of a very small weight percentage of micro or nanomaterials which can tailor of polymer. In this research work, multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were added in percentage ranging from 0.1 to 0.3% by weight in acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and a spool in the form of material was prepared for 3-D printing with the help of an extrusion machine. Characterization of these new composites can be done by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging and electron dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) to validate effect of the addition of multiwall carbon nanotubes into ABS based nanocomposite. The samples were printed as per the ASTM D638 and ISO 178 standards using dual extruder 3-D printer by fused deposition modelling (FDM). The tensile and flexural tests were performed with and without multiwall carbon nanotubes in the ABS material. The tensile test results in an increase in strength by 21.61% while the flexural test results a decrease in strength by 15.13%. With both of the tests it indicates the increase in brittleness of the composites with increment in the percentage of nanomaterials. Further an electrical conductivity test was performed on nanocomposites with weight percentage of multiwall carbon nanotubes, and have shown significant increase in electrical conductivity with the addition of multiwall carbon nanotubes.