Functionalization of Shortened Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes with Poly( p ‐dioxanone) by “Grafting‐From” Approach

Summary: It has been a real challenge to form carbon nanotube (CNT)/polymer composites where CNTs are well‐dispersed in the polymer matrix and the interactions between CNTs and polymers are effectively strong. In this paper, we applied surface‐initiated, ring‐opening polymerization (SI‐ROP) of p ‐dioxanone (PDX) to shortened single‐walled carbon nanotubes (s‐SWCNTs) and successfully formed s‐SWCNT/PPDX composites (see Figure). Due to intimate interactions between s‐SWCNTs and PPDX, we observed dramatic changes in PPDX properties upon the formation of the composites: 10%‐weight‐loss‐temperature of PPDX increased by 20 °C (measured by thermogravimetric analysis) and the patterns of T g and T m were greatly altered. We did not observe any noticeable peaks from the composite up to 120 °C in differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), while DSC data of PPDX itself showed T g and T m at −13.4 and 103 °C respectively.Schematic representation of the procedure for formation of s‐SWCNT/PPDX composites.