Electrical properties of double-wall carbon nanotubes nanocomposite hydrogels

The electrical behaviour of nanocomposite hydrogels and especially hydrogels containing carbon nanotubes is generally poorly understood. In this paper, we investigate the influence of double-wall carbon nanotubes (DWCNT) content on the electrical properties of agarose/DWCNT nanocomposite hydrogels. These nanocomposite hydrogels are potential candidates as electrode materials for transdermal drug delivery by electropermeabilization. Both alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) measurements at different voltage amplitudes were performed, as well impedance spectroscopy (1 Hz–1 MHz). Data suggest a non-linear dependence of the conduction phenomena vs the applied electric field. From the current-voltage characteristics, the nanocomposite conduction phenomenon is narrowed to two possible mechanisms, a Schottky type or a Poole-Frenkel type. These findings are the first step towards the understanding of the conduction phenomena in such complex nanocomposite structures, comprising DWCNT, water and the 3D polymeric network. The work described in this work is of much wider interest because this kind of nanocomposites may have many other applications, while the fundamental questions about their electrical conductivity remain universal.