Temperature dependence of oxygen diffusion into polymer/carbon nanotube composite films

This study examines the transport properties of polystyrene (PS)/multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT) composite films taking into consideration both MWNT composition and temperature, via fluorescence technique. Three different (3, 15, and 40 wt%) MWNT content films were prepared from PS/MWNT mixtures by annealing them at 170°C, above the glass transition temperature of PS for 10 min. The diffusivity of the PS/MWNT composite was determined by performing oxygen (O 2 ) diffusion measurements within a temperature range of 24 to 70°C for each film and pyrene (P) was used as the fluorescent probe. The diffusion coefficients ( D ) of oxygen were determined by the fluorescence quenching method assuming Fickian transport. Results indicated that D values are strongly dependent on both temperature and the MWNT content in the film and it was also observed that D coefficients obey Arrhenius behavior, from which diffusion energies were produced and increased along with increases of MWNT content. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2012. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers