Study of the Effects of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes on Mechanical Performance and Thermal Stability of Polypropylene

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been added to polypropylene (PP) matrix to improve the overall performance of composites. The mixing process has been carried out by melt compounding using a twin screw co-rotating extruder with different CNTs amounts in the 0.5-10 wt% from a concentrated PP-CNTs masterbatch (20 wt% CNTs). Results show a remarkable increase in tensile strength and elastic modulus while a decrease in elongation at break is detected. With regard to thermal behavior, a remarkable increase in thermal stability at high temperatures (decomposition process studied by thermogravimetric analysis) is obtained as the CNTs amount increases. In addition to this improvement, a noticeable increase in thermal stability at medium temperatures (degradation onset determined by differential scanning calorimetry, DSC) is also observed. In a similar way, other property related to thermal and mechanical performance, such as Vicat softening temperature (VST) is improved with CNTs content. The optimum balance between cost and properties seems to be in the 13 wt% range. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 52:733-740, 2011. (C) 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers