Effective electrical conductivity of functional single-wall carbon nanotubes in aqueous fluids

Abstract In this paper, for the first time, we have used a coaxial fixture to successfully obtain the relatively low and precise electrical conductivity values of nanofluids based on functional sulfonated carbon nanotubes. From 0 to 0.5 wt.% nanotube loading, the conductivity increased approximately 13 times. However, no percolation threshold phenomenon is observed. The linear conductivity increase versus the weight percentage indicates that the dominant conduction mechanism might be the ionic conduction, which is in agreement with the chemical structure of functional SWNT (anion SO 3 − group).