Mechanical characterization of multifunctional highly porous carbon nanotube‐reinforced foams

Abstract In recent years, novel features of ultra‐flexible nanocomposite foams have drawn tremendous attention toward these materials to be utilized in a variety of engineering applications. Since Young's modulus of nanocomposite foams is related to their mechanical strength and directly affects their applications, in this study, this property was evaluated experimentally and theoretically. In this regard, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) nanocomposite foams with different filler contents (e.g., 0.1, 0.25, and 0.5 wt%) and different porosities (e.g., 60%, 70%, and 80%) were fabricated by solvent casting and particulate leaching methods. The results suggested that the optimum value for foam porosity and MWCNT content is required to elevate Young's modulus of nanocomposite foams. The experimental data indicated that in the samples with 60% porosity increasing MWCNT content improved Young's modulus of the samples; however, in the samples with 70% porosity Young's modulus was elevated when the filler content was up to 0.25 wt%. Moreover, using the experimental data, a theoretical approach was successfully extended to predict Young's modulus of nanocomposite foams with the combination of different void fractions and CNT contents.