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Architectural effect of poly(acrylic acid) and poly(amide imide) block copolymers on dispersion of carbon nanotubes in water
Author(s) -
Kubotera Akane,
Saito Reiko
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.43461
Subject(s) - copolymer , acrylic acid , materials science , polymer chemistry , imide , amide , carbon nanotube , chemical engineering , dispersion (optics) , chemistry , composite material , polymer , organic chemistry , optics , engineering , physics
The dispersion of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in water by poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and poly(amide imide) (PAI) block copolymers and homo‐PAA is investigated. Poly(acrylic acid)‐ block ‐poly(amide imide) (PAA‐ block ‐PAI), poly(acrylic acid)‐ block ‐poly(amide imide)‐ block ‐poly(acrylic acid) (PAA‐ block ‐PAI‐ block ‐PAA), and heteroarm star block copolymer poly(acrylic acid) 2 poly(amide imide) (PAA 2 PAI) with similar molecular weights and PAA contents are used as the copolymers. The dispersion of CNTs is observed by dynamic light scattering and ultraviolet‐visible spectroscopy. The presence of the hydrophobic sequence improves the dispersion. PAA 2 PAI has the best dispersion ability, followed in order by PAA‐ block ‐PAI‐ block ‐PAA, PAA‐ block ‐PAI, and homo‐PAA. In the dry state, aggregates of CNT are observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in the mixture with PAA‐ block ‐PAI and homo‐PAA. The adhesion of the copolymers to CNT is also observed by TEM and is due to the high affinity between hydrophobic PAI and CNT. In particular, PAA 2 PAI and PAA‐ block ‐PAI‐ block ‐PAA well cover the CNTs. The presence of PAI and the PAA location are important for the dispersion of CNTs. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133 , 43461.