Incorporation of carbon nanotubes into polyethylene by high energy ball milling: Morphology and physical properties

Abstract

High energy ball milling (HEBM) was utilized, as an innovative process, to incorporate carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into a polyethylene (PE) matrix avoiding: high temperatures, solvents, ultrasonication, chemical modification of carbon nanotubes. Composites with 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 wt % of carbon nanotubes were prepared. Films were obtained melting the powders in a hot press. Morphology and physical properties (thermal, mechanical, electrical properties) were evaluated. The used processing conditions allowed to obtain a satisfactory level of dispersion of CNTs into the PE matrix with a consequent improvement of the physical properties of the samples. The thermal degradation was significantly delayed already with 1–2% wt of CNTs. The mechanical properties resulted greatly improved for low filler content (up to 3% wt). The electrical measurements showed a percolation threshold in the range 1–3 wt % of CNTs. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 597–606, 2007

Influence of carbon nanotube–polymeric compatibilizer masterbatches on morphological, thermal, mechanical, and tribological properties of polyethylene

“…Increase in Young's modulus [8,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] and decrease in elongation at break [8,12,14,[18][19][20] have frequently been reported for CNT-polyethylene nanocomposites.…”

“…Thermal properties such as melting and crystallization temperatures and crystallinity are reported to change slightly or not at all upon CNT addition [8,[15][16][17][18][19]21]. Besides mechanical properties, thermal expansion and tribological behavior of composites are critical factors in many applications.…”

Crystalline Quality Evaluation of Carbon Nanotubes by Kinetic Analysis in Quasi‐Isothermal Conditions

“…Their technological applications range over a wide variety of fields, such as hydrogen storage, [1] mechanical reinforcement, [2] catalysis, [3] sensing, [4] and electronics. [5] Although CNTs can be successfully prepared by number of methods, only catalysed chemical vapour deposition (CCVD) really grants basic requirements, such as low cost and a highyield production process.…”

Surface Modification of Carbon Nanotubes for High-Performance Polymer Composites

“…Mn of C30 and C50 is 3,100 and 48,000, respectively PC polycarbonate, MWCNTs multi-walled carbon nanotubes, P3HT-g-PCL poly (3-hexylthiophene)-g-polycaprolactone Gorrasi et al [40] prepared PE/CNT composites using high energy ball milling. The thermal degradation was already significantly delayed with 1-2 wt% CNTs.…”