In this work, the morphology was studied in ternary composites of polypropylene (PP) with nanosized calcium carbonate (nano-CaCO 3 ) fillers and elastomer inclusions and the thermodynamic consideration was used to analyze the formation of phase structure of the composites. The wetting coefficient (o a ), interfacial tension (g AB ), and work of adhesion (W AB ) were calculated to predict dispersion state of nano-CaCO 3 fillers. A comparison of the prediction and SEM analysis was given. The results show that three types of phase structures were formed: an encapsulation of the filler by elastomer, a separate dispersion of the filler and elastomer, and a particular structure of the filler at the PP/elastomer interface. The predictions by o a were all successfully supported-up by SEM analysis and the predictions by W AB were however trustless. Both g AB and W AB can predict a separate dispersion or an encapsulation phase structure, but they were not available for the particular structure of the filler at the PP/elastomer interface. o a was competent and favored for the prediction of all three types of morphology among the three parameters.
Ni particles supported on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were dispersed in a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) matrix by solution blending and then cast onto an electrode to get composite films under low magnetic fields. The orientation of CNTs in the films was characterised by scanning electron microscope and optical microscope. Multimeter and high resistance meter were used to study the electrical behaviour of the nanocomposites. The glass transition temperature T g of PMMA was determined by differential scanning calorimetry. The results show that the alignment of the CNTs dispersed in the PMMA was achieved under a low magnetic strength below 0?5 T. Because of the ferromagnetism of Ni particles, the magnetic alignment of CNTs susceptibly changed. The magnetic alignment units in this work were rod-like CNTs aggregates instead of single CNTs, which took part in the buildup of a specific CNTs network structure in PMMA matrix. The network structure played a key role in significantly improving electrical conductivity and T g of the nanocomposites.
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