Highly Homogeneous Carbon Nanotube-Polycaprolactone Composites with Various and Controllable Concentrations of Ionically-Modified-MWCNTs

For the fabrication of multifunctional biopolymer nanocomposites in the combination of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), recently increasing attention has been paid to an effective homogenization of CNTs within polymer matrices and a fine tuning of the concentration. We developed an efficient method to produce homogeneous CNT-polycaprolactone nanocomposites with various and controllable CNT concentrations using an ionically-modified multi-walled CNT, MWCNT-C1. The modified MWCNTs could be homogeneously dispersed in tetrahydrofuran (THF). Polycaprolactone (PCL) as a biodegradable and biocompatible polymer was smoothly dissolved in the homogeneous MWCNT-C1/THF solution without agglomeration of MWCNT-C1. The physicochemical and mechanical properties of the resultant nanocomposites were examined and the biological usefulness was briefly assessed.