Yes / Melt blending of polyolefin/carbon nanotube (CNT) composites always leads to serious agglomeration of CNTs and hence inferior properties. Thus, well-dispersed CNTs within matrix are urgently required during processing. In this work, effective breakage of CNT agglomerates was achieved by solid-phase die drawing at a temperature below but near to the melting temperature of the matrix. Experimental results indicate that the incurred extensional stress provides a high orientation degree on the polypropylene (PP) matrix and consequently helps rupture CNT agglomerates, leading to improved alternating current（AC） conductivity by ~5–6 orders in magnitude. The reduced agglomerate ratio, the altered CNT networks (3D→2D), and the improved interfacial morphology between CNT and matrix are suggested to be responsible for the viscoelasticity variation of the composite melt and the improved property of PP/multiwalled CNTs (MWCNTs) composite. The initial loss of tensile ductility by the incorporation of MWCNTs is recovered by nearly 100%, which was attributed to the low agglomeration rate and improved interfacial morphology. This article provided the potential inspiration for the melt blending of polymer melt and CNTs. / China Scholarship Council. Grant Number: 201806465028
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/18183 |
| Date | 12 November 2020 |
| Creators | Lin, X., Gong, M., Innes, James R., Spencer, Paul E., Coates, Philip D., Korde, Sachin A. |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article, Accepted Manuscript |
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