title: The influence of the dispersion method on the electrical properties of vapor-grown carbon nanofiber/epoxy composites.
abstract: The influence of the dispersion of vapor-grown carbon nanofibers (VGCNF) on the electrical properties of VGCNF/Epoxy composites has been studied. A homogenous dispersion of the VGCNF does not imply better electrical properties. In fact, it is demonstrated that the most simple of the tested dispersion methods results in higher conductivity, since the presence of well-distributed nanofiber clusters appears to be a key factor for increasing composite conductivity.PACS: 72.80.Tm; 73.63.Fg; 81.05.Qk.
authors.affiliation: IPC/I3N--Institute for Polymers and Composites, University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal. rsimoes@dep.uminho.pt.
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Donald
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Klosterman
authors.forename: José A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Covas
authors.forename: Ferrie Wj
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: van Hattum
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Simoes
authors.forename: Senentxu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lanceros-Mendez