Studies on the selective localization of multi-walled carbon nanotubes in blends of poly(vinylidene fluoride) and polycaprolactone

A ternary system based on blends of poly(vinylidene fluoride)(PVDF) and polycaprolactone (PCL) and made the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) selective distribution in PCL phases via melt blending has been studied. The studies on conductivity of MWNT/PCL/PVDF composites with different proportions of PVDF and PCL showed that the conductivity was good in the mass ratio range of PVDF/PCL from 70/30 to 40/60 and that of other matching was poor. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation of the composites revealed co-continuous morphologies of PVDF and PCL were formed in composites under suitable proportion of PVDF to PCL. The interfacial tensions of PVDF and PCL melts was tested at mixing temperature of 200 degrees C, the calculated wetting coefficient indicated that MWNT would selectively distribute in PCL phase owing to interfacial effects. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) observation further confirmed that co-continuous morphologies of PVDF and PCL could appear with the increase of PCL content, as indicated by MWNT selective localization in PCL. As the result, the desired structure of double percolation was built in MWNT/PCL/PVDF composites, which have much higher conductivity than that of PVDF or PCL composites with the same MWNT content. Through a strategy of selective localization of MWNT, PVDF based material with low percolation threshold (<0.5 wt%) was acquired which held promise for potential use in large-scale industrial applications.