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Effects of carbon nanotubes and their state of dispersion on the anionic polymerization of ϵ‐caprolactam: 1. Calorimetry
Author(s) -
Penu Christian,
Hu GuoHua,
Fonteix Christian,
Marchal Philippe,
Choplin Lionel
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.21719
Subject(s) - polymerization , caprolactam , materials science , differential scanning calorimetry , autocatalysis , carbon nanotube , dispersion (optics) , kinetics , dispersion polymerization , polymer chemistry , anionic addition polymerization , chemical engineering , composite material , polymer , thermodynamics , physics , quantum mechanics , optics , engineering
This work reports, for the first time, on the effect of carbon nanotubes (CNT) on the kinetics of the activated polymerization of lactams. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was chosen to study the kinetics of the activated anionic polymerization of ε‐caprolactam in the presence of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT). A statistical test was carried out to confirm the validity of the experimental approach. The presence of the MWCNT slowed down the polymerization rate. This inhibiting effect depended not only on the MWCNT content but also on its state of dispersion in the polymerizing system. An autocatalytic model coupled with an evolutionary algorithm showed that the MWCNT content had an effect on the autocatalysis while its state of dispersion had an effect on the apparent polymerization kinetic constant. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2010. © 2010 Society of Plastics Engineers