화학공학소재연구정보센터
Polymer Engineering and Science, Vol.59, No.10, 2072-2081, 2019
Homogeneous dispersion of multiwalled carbon nanotubes via in situ bubble stretching and synergistic cyclic volume stretching for conductive LDPE/MWCNTs nanocomposites
Low-density polyethylene (LDPE)/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) nanocomposites with different foaming agent (OBSH) contents were innovatively prepared via In Situ Bubble Stretching (ISBS) and synergistic cyclic volume stretching. The cyclic convergent and divergent flow makes the MWCNTs repeatedly subjected to bubble stretching, which is conducive to the efficient dispersion of MWCNTs in the matrix. The thermal weight loss of neat OBSH and nanocomposite were characterized by thermal gravimetric analyzer (TGA), which indicated that the OBSH in the nanocomposite had been completely decomposed into gas during the plasticizing transport process. The results of morphology showed that the moderate content of OBSH had better dispersion effect on MWCNTs. At optimal OBSH content, the OBSH could generate enough gas and larger bubbles per unit time to provide greater expansion forces to do much for the dispersion of MWCNTs. The dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) was further carried out and also proved that the content of OSBH was an important factor for the dispersion of MWCNTs. Moreover, the relationship between the OBSH content and conductivity was discussed in details. The improvement in conductive properties of nanocomposites associated with the use of the method can be attributed to a more homogeneous dispersion of MWCNTs. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2019. (c) 2019 Society of Plastics Engineers