Patent ID: 8597557

Claim:
A method of preparing a polymer and carbon nanotube composite, said method comprising: providing a mixture of a polymer component and a carbon nanotube component; introducing said mixture into a solid-state shear pulverization apparatus, said apparatus comprising a cooling component; applying a mechanical energy to said polymer-carbon nanotube mixture through solid-state shear pulverization in the presence of cooling at least partially sufficient to maintain said polymer component in a solid state during said pulverization, said pulverization at least partially sufficient to provide a pulverization product comprising a carbon nanotube component; melt-mixing said pulverization product at a temperature less than 400° C. to debundle agglomerates of said carbon nanotube component and disperse carbon nanotubes in said pulverization product, said melt-mixing providing a composite of said polymer and carbon nanotube components.