Premium
Preparation and orientation behavior of multi‐walled carbon nanotubes grafted with a side‐chain azobenzene liquid crystalline polymer
Author(s) -
Hu Tianhui,
Xie Helou,
Chen Li,
Zhong Guanqun,
Zhang Hailiang
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
polymer international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.592
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1097-0126
pISSN - 0959-8103
DOI - 10.1002/pi.2917
Subject(s) - materials science , carbon nanotube , azobenzene , thermogravimetric analysis , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , differential scanning calorimetry , atom transfer radical polymerization , polymer , liquid crystal , chemical engineering , side chain , polymer chemistry , polymerization , composite material , physics , optoelectronics , engineering , thermodynamics
Covalent functionalization of multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) with side‐chain azobenzene liquid crystalline poly{6‐[4‐(4‐methoxyphenylazo)phenoxy]hexyl methacrylate} (PMMAZO) was successfully achieved via atom transfer radical polymerization. The resultant samples were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and transmission electron microscopy. The results of differential scanning calorimetry and polarized optical microscopy show that the liquid crystalline behavior of PMMAZO‐functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNT‐PMMAZO) is similar to that of the PMMAZO homopolymer. The orientation of MWNTs and CNT‐PMMAZO in a PMMAZO matrix in the presence of an electric field was investigated. The results indicate that the orientation of MWNTs is dominated by the viscosity of the matrix, but the orientation of CNT‐PMMAZO is controlled by both the viscosity and the presence of a liquid crystalline phase ascribed to the compatibility between MWNTs and PMMAZO becoming better after covalent modification. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry