Improved monitoring of temperature changes

Multi-walled and single-walled carbon nanotube (CNT) based coatings can potentially be employed as temperature-sensitive coatings on electrical circuit boards. A critical factor is the degree of dependence of the electrical resistance to temperature change. CNT-dispersant coating and CNT-silicone-compound are compared as possible solutions. Results: CNT-dispersant-coatings and CNT-silicone-coatings, made of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and singlewalled carbon nanotubes were tested for variations in resistivity to changes of environmental conditions of humidity and temperature. The resistance of coatings consisting of "Baytubes C150P" and gum arabic is highly influenced by humidity while the silicone-compound using the SZ nanotubes is hardly affected. The resistance of all the compositions investigated was found to be temperature dependent. Due to their favourable properties, SZ-silicone coatings could possibly find application as temperature-sensing materials.