Synthesis of Organosilane‐Modified Carbon Nanofibers and Influence of Silane Coating Thickness on the Performance of Polyethylene Nanocomposites

Abstract

Silane coatings with different thicknesses were synthesized on CNFs for reinforcement of polyethylene composites. The thickness of the silane coating was adjusted by using a basic catalyst to increase the overall reactivity of the silane groups, resulting in a thick coating of ≈46 nm (ca. 90% increase in fiber diameter). DMA performed on the polyethylene composites showed a substantial increase in storage modulus from 1.68 to 2.34 GPa (40%) at low temperatures in the composite with the thick silane coating (≈46 nm) at a low loading of 0.4 wt.‐%. We believe that the silane‐treated nanofillers with thick coatings are very promising for high‐performance nanocomposites with non‐polar polymer matrices. magnified image

Effect of reinforcement on wear debris of carbon nanofiber/high density polyethylene composites: Morphological study and quantitative analysis

“…These phenomena are more obvious in Comp-h ( Fig. 2E and F), revealing that heavy silane coating may induce an increased interaction and load transfer between filler and matrix [28]. Therefore, these results demonstrate that the silane coating enhanced interfacial interaction and adhesion in the HDPE/CNF system.…”

“…The coating thicknesses were determined using TGA data, which are heavily silanized CNF-h (about 46 nm) and lightly silanized CNF-l (about 2.8 nm). Details of the treatment are provided in our previous study [28].…”

“…The results indicated that polymeric composite system with nanofiller reinforcements exhibited improved tribological behavior with respect to two aspects observed from debris analysis: less mechanical damage and a reduction amount of long PE fibrils. In order to reveal the influence of different fiber-matrix interaction on the wear debris of nanocomposites, pristine CNFs and our previously silane treated CNFs (thin and thick coatings) were selected as the reinforcements of HDPE [28]. Study results suggested that the debris size distribution and the morphology of the wear debris are related to the interactions between the nanofibers and the polymer matrix.…”

“…Hydrocarbon polymers, such as PE, as the matrix materials, which are non-polar polymers, functionalizing fillers via various hydrophobic moieties similar to the matrix is the most feasible method [23,24]. In our previous study [28], octadecyltrimethoxysilane (ODMS), an organosilane coupling agent with long non-polar hydrocarbon chains, was selected to treat the preoxidized carbon nanofibers (ox-CNFs) resulting in the preferable compatibility with high density polyethylene (HDPE). These hydrocarbon chains of the ODMS were coated onto the CNF surface to form a non-polar layer.…”

Silanization of Carbon Nanotubes: Surface Modification and Polymer Nanocomposites

“…Thus, the link between the silane-treated CNT and epoxy effectively change the movement of molecular chains reflected in Tan Delta. Other researches (Wood et al 2010) that involve DMA of Polymer Nanocomposites containing silanized CNFs with different silane treatments have found that silane reaction assisted by NaOH improve the interactions at interface level more than only silanization. Therefore, the storage modulus at -70 ºC of polymer nanocomposites reinforced with silanized CNFs increase 39 % with respect to polymer matrix (HDPE High Density Poly ethylene) .…”