Conductive epoxy nanocomposite with self-supporting networks of silver@carbon nanocable sponge and improved properties

Self-supporting three-dimensional (3D) nanocable sponge of silver@carbon (Ag@C) nanocable was obtained by annealing silver@polyvinyl alcohol (Ag@cPVA) through a hydrothermal method under nitrogen atmosphere. FT-IR spectra showed that Ag@cPVA had been converted to Ag@C nanocables. XRD results indicated that the inner silver nanowires were not affected by the annealing process. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that both Ag@cPVA and Ag@C nanocables 3D networks were obtained with temperature-dependent diameter and remained stable before and after the filling of epoxy resin. The dynamic mechanical properties and electrical and thermal conductivity of the obtained epoxy nanocomposites have been measured. In comparison with neat epoxy resin, the storage modulus increased from 2375 to 2753 MPa of Ag@C-1000/epoxy nanocomposite, while the T g remained almost unchanged. The volume resistivity of the Ag@C-1000/epoxy nanocomposite decreased drastically from 2.1 × 10 16 Ω·cm to 6.1 × 10 3 Ω·cm; meanwhile, the thermal conductivity increased by 105% from 0.18 to 0.37 W/mK.