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Thermal behavior of poly(ethylene‐ co ‐propylene) containing carbon nanofibers
Author(s) -
Adhikari A.R.,
Georgiev G.,
Sigdel K.,
Iannacchione G.S.,
Lozano K.,
Chipara M.
Publication year - 2012
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.22097
Subject(s) - thermogravimetric analysis , materials science , crystallization , differential scanning calorimetry , nucleation , thermal stability , chemical engineering , carbon nanofiber , nanofiber , polymer , polymer chemistry , composite material , organic chemistry , carbon nanotube , chemistry , thermodynamics , physics , engineering
The effect of carbon nanofiber on the thermal behavior of poly(ethylene‐ co ‐propylene) (PEP) as revealed by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis is reported. Analysis showed faster crystallization of PEP at higher temperature upon cooling with the increase of carbon nanofiber (CNF) content. The crystallization behavior changed to a single narrow crystallization peak as compared with the broad double crystallization peak of the neat polymer. This demonstrates the nucleation ability of CNF to induce crystals with more uniform distribution. The modified‐Avrami approach was used to study the crystallization behavior. We found that the crystallization rate constant increased with addition of CNFs. The dimensionality of crystal growth was found not to depend significantly on the content of CNF. Thermal degradation in air was monitored using thermogravimetric analysis and observed that the incorporation of nanofiber greater than 2.4 vol% improves thermal stability of PEP. All these results indicate that CNFs can significantly help polymer processing and increase thermal stability of polymers. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2012. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers