Multiwall nanotubes that have undergone acidic treatment of varying duration were melt-compounded with poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) in a batch-mixer in order to create nanocomposite structures.
The samples were pressed into films and annealed above the crystallization temperature of the polymer. Fourier
Transform infrared (FT-IR) as well as Raman spectroscopies were utilized to monitor the gauche to trans
transformations due to the annealing process with respect to the duration of the treatment of nanotubes. In addition,
differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements were performed to study the crystallinity changes due to
the presence of the tubes. Acid-treated nanotubes were found not only to increase PET's crystallinity but also
lead to a much better crystalline formation of the polymeric chains. The spectroscopic measurements in correlation
with the DSC findings showed that neat PET has relatively more trans conformers in the noncrystalline phase
than the PET−MWNT nanocomposite samples. Therefore, the presence of the nanotubes transforms the trans
conformers of the noncrystalline phase into crystalline domains with the nanotubes acting as moderate nucleation
agents.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.