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Study on the preparation and properties of aligned carbon nanotubes/polylactide composite fibers
Author(s) -
Kong Yuxia,
Yuan Jie,
Wang Zongming,
Qiu Jun
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
polymer composites
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.577
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1548-0569
pISSN - 0272-8397
DOI - 10.1002/pc.22298
Subject(s) - materials science , polylactic acid , crystallization , composite number , composite material , thermogravimetric analysis , differential scanning calorimetry , thermal stability , carbon nanotube , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , scanning electron microscope , electrospinning , fiber , polycaprolactone , chemical engineering , polymer , physics , engineering , thermodynamics
The oriented carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/polylactic acid (PLA) composite fibers was prepared by the modified electrospinning technology, and characterized by Raman, X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and thermogravimetric (TG)/differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) analyses, respectively. Results showed that functionalized MWNTs have obvious orientation along the fiber axial in the interior of the electrospun PLA fibers, and improved the crystallization degree of PLA in the composite fibers due to the heterogeneous nucleation effect. The influences of polycaprolactone‐functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs‐PCL) on the performances of PLA fibers were studied. The crystallization region inside the MWNTs–PCL/PLA composite fibers was enlarged by increasing the MWNTs‐PCL content. As a result, enhanced crystallization temperature was obtained. Moreover, a small amount of MWNTs‐PCL (0.5%) improved the thermal stability of PLA matrix, while excess MWNTs‐PCL (3.0%) induced the decrease of the thermal stability of PLA resin due to the agglomeration of MWNTs‐PCL. POLYM. COMPOS., 2012. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers