Figure Captions Figure 1 TEM image showing thermoplastic sphere and carbon nanotubes, for epoxy containing 15 wt% of thermoplastic and 0.178 wt% of carbon nanotubes (15-0.178-D). Figure 2 Typical montages of TEM images for quadrat analysis, for epoxy containing (a) 25 wt% of thermoplastic and 0.336 wt% of carbon nanotubes (25-0.336-D) showing relatively good dispersion, and (b) 15 wt% of thermoplastic and 0.1 wt% of carbon nanotubes showing relatively poor dispersion (15-0.1-S). (Micron bars are 0.2 µm long). Figure 3 Typical results from quadrat analysis, for sample 0-0.178-S, using (a) overlapping or (b) contiguous cells. Figure 4 Typical result from quadrat analysis using overlapping cells showing distinct peaks. Figure 5 Greyscale images and corresponding histograms for (a) 0-0.1-S, (b) 15-0.1-S, (c) 15-0.1-D, (d) 25-0.1-S, and (e) 25-0.1-D. Figure 6 Ratio of variance/mean versus nanotube content for greyscale analysis of epoxy with 0, 15 and 25 wt% of thermoplastic. (* : 0-0.178-S sample shows very poor dispersion at macroscale.) 1 Samples Analysed Wt% Wt% nanotubes Sample thermoplastic Sonicated into Dispersed in epoxy thermoplastic 0-0.1-S 0 0.1 - 0-0.178-S 0 0.178 - 0-0.336-S 0 0.336 - 0-0.5-S 0 0.5 - 15-0.1-S 15-0.1-D 15 0.1 0.1 15-0.178-S 15-0.178-D 15 0.178 0.178 15-0.336-S 15 0.336 - 25-0.1-S 25-0.1-D 25 0.1 0.1
Figure Captions Figure 1 TEM image showing thermoplastic sphere and carbon nanotubes, for epoxy containing 15 wt% of thermoplastic and 0.178 wt% of carbon nanotubes (15-0.178-D). Figure 2 Typical montages of TEM images for quadrat analysis, for epoxy containing (a) 25 wt% of thermoplastic and 0.336 wt% of carbon nanotubes (25-0.336-D) showing relatively good dispersion, and (b) 15 wt% of thermoplastic and 0.1 wt% of carbon nanotubes showing relatively poor dispersion (15-0.1-S). (Micron bars are 0.2 µm long). Figure 3 Typical results from quadrat analysis, for sample 0-0.178-S, using (a) overlapping or (b) contiguous cells. Figure 4 Typical result from quadrat analysis using overlapping cells showing distinct peaks. Figure 5 Greyscale images and corresponding histograms for (a) 0-0.1-S, (b) 15-0.1-S, (c) 15-0.1-D, (d) 25-0.1-S, and (e) 25-0.1-D. Figure 6 Ratio of variance/mean versus nanotube content for greyscale analysis of epoxy with 0, 15 and 25 wt% of thermoplastic. (* : 0-0.178-S sample shows very poor dispersion at macroscale.) 1 Samples Analysed Wt% Wt% nanotubes Sample thermoplastic Sonicated into epoxy Dispersed in thermoplastic 0-0.1-S 0 0.1 - 0-0.178-S 0 0.178 - 0-0.336-S 0 0.336 - 0-0.5-S 0 0.5 - 15-0.1-S 15-0.1-D 15 0.1 0.1 15-0.178-S 15-0.178-D 15 0.178 0.178 15-0.336-S 15 0.336 - 25-0.1-S 25-0.1-D 25 0.1 0.1