  In the present work, the morphology and the electrical and thermal conduction
properties of co-continuous poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), maleated
polypropylene (PPgMA) and multiwall carbon nanotubes (CNT) nanostructured
blends are investigated. CNT preferentially locates in the PPgMA phase and
clearly causes a refinement in the co-continuous structure. Electrical
conductivity experiments show that nanocomposites are well above the
percolation threshold and evidence for one order of magnitude enhancement in
conductivity for the co-continuous nanocomposites compared to the monophasic
nanocomposites with the same CNT volume fraction. On the other hand, thermal
diffusivity enhancement for the co-continuous blends is found lower than that
for the monophasic nanocomposites at the same CNT volume fraction. An
explanation is proposed in terms of large interfacial area, causing phonon
scattering at the interface between immiscible PVDF and PPgMA domains. Results
described in this paper open the way to the preparation of high electrical and
low thermal conductivity materials with possible application as
thermoelectrics.
