Nickel Nanostrands (NiNS) are nano-particles that are highly branched and have a high aspect ratio. These particles show promise as excellent additives to composites when electrical conductivity is desired. Unfortunately, there is very little research done on dispersing powdered NiNS in various polymer matrices. This thesis covers the research in dispersing NiNS in three separate polymer systems, and related composite processing and characterization. An aromatic polyimide (CP2) is first used as a thermoplastic matrix and attempts to incorporate NiNS via an in-situ processing technique concurrent with in-situ polymerization are detailed. Epoxy is then used as a representative thermoset where the NiNS are dispersed in the resin before a hardener is added. The last polymer tested is thermoplastic Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF). NiNS are introduced to this polymer in a solution mixture. Once dispersed, the PVDF solution is heated until the solvent evaporates leaving a PVDF melt containing NiNS, which is subsequently cooled. Samples of all three polymer nano-composites are created and dispersion is observed with an optical microscope. Using DSC, DMA and dielectric spectroscopy, thermal, mechanical and electrical properties are measured and analyzed. Results for the CP2 nano-composites showed that during the cure phase, the NiNS settled to the bottom of the films resulting in a non-dispersed composite. This result highlighted the difference between NiNS and other more conventional nano-particles, namely that the NiNS are larger and heavier, therefore are not 'locked into' a dispersed state by the polymer chains. Several techniques were investigated for dispersing NiNS in the epoxy matrix. A method without solvent was shown to be the most effective and resulted in a well-dispersed nano-composite that showed increases in electrical conductivity and dielectric constant as NiNS concentration increases. Enhancement in storage modulus was observed above the composite's Tg as well. PVDF nano-composites also showed good dispersion and a general increase in electrical properties. Below Tg, storage modulus decreases at first before a slight recovery with increasing NiNS. Beyond Tg, the opposite effect is observed. FTIR measurements for the PVDF were also taken and showed no significant changes in the polymer morphology with additions of NINS.

Conductive and flexible nanocomposites can have wide applications in textiles, including wearable sensors, antenna, electrodes, etc. The objective of this research is to develop electrically conductive fibers and films that are flexible and deformable for use in textile structures able to accommodate the drape and movement of the human body. To achieve this objective, we evaluate the electrical properties of PEDOT:PSS/nickel nanostrand as well as nylon 6/nickel nanostrand nanocomposites. Nickel nanostrands (NiNS) were first used to reinforce an intrinsically conductive polymer, Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT:PSS), in order to fabricate nanocomposite films with high electrical conductivity. The electrical properties of the films were evaluated by the Van der Pauw method. The addition of 10 wt% nanostrands in PDOT:PSS provided a two order of magnitude improvement in electrical conductivity. In addition to PDOT:PSS, nylon 6/NiNS nanocomposite fibers were produced using electrospinning and exhibited diameters in the sub-micron range. The NiNS-reinforced fibers had electrical conductivity that exceeded the ESD range, which offers the potential for use in protective textile applications. / text

Due to their unique properties, carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) are becoming ever more prevalent in today's society. Unfortunately, CFRP suffer from a wide range of failure modes and structural health monitoring methods are currently insufficient to predict these failures. It is apparent that self-sensing structural health monitoring could be advantageous to protect consumers from catastrophic failure in CFRP structures. Previous research has shown that embedded nickel nanostrand nanocomposites can be used to instantaneously measure strain in carbon fiber composites, but these methods have been severely limited and can induce high stress concentrations that compromise the structural integrity of the carbon fiber structure. In this research the strain sensor material and the connective circuitry to the sensor are analyzed to improve the practicality of in situ strain sensing of carbon fiber structures. It has been found that the use of nickel nanostrands embedded directly onto carbon fiber as a strain sensor material has no advantages over a carbon fiber strain sensor alone. Additionally, it has been shown that the circuitry to the strain sensor plays a critical role in obtaining a strong, consistent piezoresistive signal that can be related to strain. The use of nickel coated carbon fiber in the circuitry has been evaluated and shown to reduce the noise in a piezoresistive signal while allowing for remote strain sensing from greater distances away from the strain location. The piezoresistive strain sensing utilized in the tested sensor designs relies on electrons tunneling through an insulting barrier between two conductors. This phenomenon is known as quantum tunneling. Two factors - tunneling barrier height and gap distance - affect the probability of quantum tunneling occurring. Thus, to accurately model and predict the piezoresistivity of nanocomposites these two parameters must be known. Through the use of dielectric spectroscopy the gap distance can be determined. Using nanoindenting, the barrier height for various polymers was also determined. The measured values can be used, in future work, to improve the modeling of nickel nanostrand nanocomposite.

A new method for pre-impregnating nickel coated carbon fiber with a thermoplastic polymer to make towpreg, similar to a recently developed coating-line by João P. Nunes et al and a new electrically conductive thermoplastic are developed. A melted bath was used to help mitigate health concerns and waste for dispersion of nickel coated carbon fibers (NCF) in low density polyethylene (LDPE). This towpreg was then mixed with more LDPE or a mixture of LDPE and nickel nanostrands (NiNS) to a desired filler volume fraction to test the electrical conductivity of the composite. Some of these mixtures were then injection molded and tested again for conductivity as well as tensile and impact strength and compared to each other and the non-injection molded samples. It was found that mixing NiNS into the polymer in addition to NCF created a more conductive part than with NCF alone, in a couple orders of magnitude. Also, the shorter the NCF were, the greater the contribution of the NiNS to the electrical properties of the NCF filled material. The tensile strength was increased by adding the NCF and NiNS, while the impact strength (toughness) decreased.