Composite materials with magnetically aligned carbon nanoparticles having enhanced electrical properties and methods of preparation

1. A magnetically aligned carbon nanoparticle composite composition comprising:

carbon nanoparticles, a host material, magnetically sensitive nanoparticles, and a surfactant, wherein said magnetically sensitive nanoparticles are present in the composition from about 1 wt. % to about 15 wt. %, wherein said surfactant attaches to the carbon nanoparticles thereby connecting the carbon nanoparticle with the magnetically sensitive nanoparticles by electrostatic attraction; wherein said composition is magnetically aligned and, once magnetically aligned, has increased electrical conductivity of at least three orders of magnitude, in at least one direction, relative to a composite having the same composition without magnetic alignment.

2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the carbon nanoparticle comprises at least one of the following graphene, carbon nanotubes, fullerene, carbon nanotube fiber and carbon fiber.

3. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the magnetically sensitive nanoparticles comprise at least one of the following cobalt, vanadium, manganese, niobium, iron, nickel, copper, silicon, titanium, germanium, zirconium, tin, magnetically sensitive rare earth metals, oxides of the aforementioned metals, and combinations and alloys of the aforementioned metals and/or metal oxides.

4. The composition of claim 1 wherein the magnetically sensitive nanoparticles are selected from the group consisting of NdFeB, Fe, Fe 2 O 3 , Fe 3 O 4 , Ni, NiO, Ni 2 O 3 , Co, CoO, Co 2 O 3 , and Co 3 O 4 , and combinations thereof.

5. The composition of claim 1 wherein the surfactant has a net negative charge and the pH value of the composition in a liquid state is more than the pHpzc of magnetically sensitive nanoparticles, or the surfactant has a net positive charge ad the pH value of the composition in a liquid state is less than the pHpzc of magnetically sensitive nanoparticles.

6. The composition of claim 5 wherein the surfactant has a net negative charge and comprises sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate or has a net positive charge and comprises cetyl trimethylammonium bromide.

7. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the host material comprises at least 40 wt. % of the composition, wherein the carbon nanoparticles are about 0.01 wt. % to about 20 wt. %, wherein the surfactant is about 0.01 wt. % to about 20 wt. %, wherein the ratio of nanoparticles to surfactant is between about 1:1 and about 1:20.

8. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the host material comprises at least 45 wt. % of the composition, wherein the carbon nanoparticles are about 0.1 wt. % to about 8 wt. %, wherein the magnetically sensitive nanoparticles are about 1 wt. % to about 10 wt. %, wherein the surfactant is about 2 wt. % to about 40 wt. %, and wherein the ratio of nanoparticles to surfactant is between about 1:5 and about 1:15.

9. The composition of claim 8 , wherein the magnetically sensitive nanoparticles are about 1 wt. % to about 10 wt. %.

10. The composition of claim 9 , wherein the composition has increased electrical conductivity of at least about four orders of magnitude relative to a composite having the same composition without magnetic alignment.

11. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the host material is selected from the group consisting of ceramics, thermoplastic polymers, thermoset polymers, alloys, metalloids, and combinations thereof.

12. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the host material is selected from the group consisting of epoxy, anionic polyamide-6, or c-PBT.

13. A magnetically aligned carbon nanoparticle composite prepared by a process comprising:

providing a host material in a liquid state;

adding carbon nanoparticles, magnetically sensitive nanoparticle, and surfactant to the liquid host material to form a liquid composite, wherein said surfactant attaches to the carbon nanoparticles thereby connecting the carbon nanoparticles with the magnetically sensitive nanoparticles by electrostatic attraction, and wherein said magnetically sensitive nanoparticles are added in an amount between about 1 wt. % and about 15 wt. %;

optionally, physically agitating the liquid composite;

solidifying; and

applying a magnetic field to the liquid composite during, and/or prior to, the solidifying step; and

forming a magnetically aligned carbon nanoparticle composite, wherein said magnetically aligned carbon nanoparticle composite has increased electrical conductivity of at least three orders of magnitude, in at least one direction, relative to a composite having the same composition without magnetic alignment.

14. The composite prepared by the process of claim 13 , wherein the liquid state of the host material is a resin that can be solidified by curing, or a polymer solution that can be solidified by solvent evaporation, or a molten polymer that can be solidified by cooling, or a monomer or oligomer that can be solidified by in-situ polymerization, and combinations thereof.

15. The composite prepared by the process of claim 13 , wherein the host material is selected from the group consisting of thermoset polymers, thermoplastic polymers, ceramics, metalloids, alloys, and combinations thereof, and is added in an amount to constitute between about 30 wt. % and about 99.9 wt. %; wherein the carbon nanoparticles are added in an amount between about 0.01 wt. % and about 10 wt. %; wherein the magnetically sensitive nanoparticles are added in an amount between about 1 wt. % and about 10 wt. %; wherein the surfactant is added in an amount between about 0.01 wt. % and about 60 wt. %; and wherein the ratio of nanoparticles to surfactant is between about 1:1 and about 1:20.

16. The composite prepared by the process of claim 13 , wherein the physical agitation of the liquid composite comprises mixing, stirring, ultrasonication, milling, or a combination thereof; wherein the surfactant has a net negative charge and the pH value of the liquid composite is more than the pHpzc of magnetically sensitive nanoparticle, or the surfactant has a net positive charge and the pH value of the liquid composite is less than the pHpzc of magnetically sensitive nanoparticles; wherein the liquid host material is in a molten state or dissolved in a solvent.

17. The composite prepared by the process of claim 13 , wherein the physical agitation comprises ultrasonication for a duration of between about 5 seconds and about 50 minutes; and wherein said magnetic field has a strength of between about 0.01 kG, and about 1 TG, and wherein said magnetic field is applied for less than about 10 seconds and up to about 72 hours.

18. The composite prepared by the process claim 13 , further comprising before the adding step, adding the carbon nanoparticles, magnetically sensitive nanoparticles, and surfactant to a solvent and physically agitating the carbon nanoparticles, magnetically sensitive nanoparticles, and surfactant in solvent, and evaporating said solvent.