Superior reinforcement in polyamide 1010/multiwalled carbon nanotube composites realized by high-rate drawing and incorporation of compatibilizer

To realize the full potential of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in polymer/CNT nanocomposites, many complicated chemical treatments have been developed to modify the CNTs. Nevertheless, the reinforcing efficiency is still not satisfactory in most cases. In this study, a dramatically improved mechanical enhancement is obtained for polyamide 1010/multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT) composites simply by exerting high-rate drawing and incorporating a commercially available compatibilizer. For the fibers prepared at high draw ratio, their tensile strength and modulus are improved by 137 and 132%, respectively, through adding only 0.5 wt% MWNTs. In particular, the increase in strength is at a very high level for the case of non-covalent interaction since CNTs could be stretched to failure according to theoretical calculation. It is demonstrated that this reinforcement is mainly attributed to the compatibilizer inducing good dispersion, and the high-rate drawing inducing strong interfacial interaction and orientation of MWNTs. Copyright (c) 2012 Society of Chemical Industry