The filler dispersibility, structural changes by drawing, and mechanical properties of polymer‐based composites containing two types of organo‐modified single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) fabricated using different methods were investigated. In this study, the SWCNTs manufactured by super‐growth chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and improved arc discharge (iAD) were used. Further, they were surface‐modified with fluorinated phosphonic acid, and the composites were prepared with crystalline fluoropolymer by melt compounding. By introducing a very small amount of fluorinated phosphonic acid as a dispersion aid, jet‐black composites with uniform dispersibility were obtained. In the high‐temperature drawing process, the aggregated SWCNTs in the composites were uniaxially oriented along the drawing direction. The crystallinity and mechanical properties of the composites were significantly improved by the composite preparation with SWCNTs and their drawing orientation. The SWCNTs derived from the super‐growth CVD method exhibited excellent dispersibility in the matrix polymer, and the composite containing SWCNTs derived from iAD method had excellent mechanical properties.
The mechanical properties and miscibility of polymer‐based composites containing cellulose nanofiber (CNF) and polyrotaxane (p‐rtx) as organic fillers were studied in detail. CNF and p‐rtx were introduced as powders into a polypropylene (PP) matrix, and composites were prepared using a simple melt‐compounding method. The best mechanical properties were achieved when CNF and p‐rtx were loaded at a concentration of 0.6 wt%. The Young's modulus of the composite increased by 760 MPa compared with that of the PP matrix. In addition, the presence of mica in the composite promoted the epitaxial growth of PP along the (1 3 0) plane. The various shifts in the melting/crystallization temperatures of the composites prepared at different CNF:p‐rtx ratios confirmed the partial miscibility between the fillers and the matrix. The enhancement in the mechanical properties of the composite is believed to be due to the miscibility of the surfaces of aggregates of the organic fillers with PP and the uniform dispersion of the organic fillers in the matrix.
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