Patent ID: 8455583

Claim:
A method of forming a polymer nanocomposite, wherein the method comprises the steps of: a) mixing CNTs and a compatibilizing surfactant with a polymer, wherein the surfactant is a zwitterionic surfactant that comprises chemical groups capable of establishing simultaneous interactions with both the CNTs and the polymer, and wherein the polymer is selected from the group consisting of poly(ε-caprolactone); poly(γ-caprolactone); nylon 6; nylon 66; nylon 6-10; nylon 11; nylon 12; poly(lactic acid); poly(glycolic acid); copolymers of lactic and glycolic acid, and other polyamides and polyesters; polyethelether ketone (PEEK); polyetherimide (PEI); polyimides; polyamidimide; polyphenylene sulfide (PPS); polysulfone; polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF); and combinations thereof; and b) simultaneously interacting the zwitterionic surfactant with the CNTs and the polymer to form the polymer nanocomposite, wherein the zwitterionic surfactant simultaneously interacts with the CNTs and the polymer through interactions selected from the group consisting of ionic interactions, electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding interactions, covalent interactions, physiochemical interactions, Lewis-acid/Lewis-base interactions, and combinations thereof.