Construction of advanced poly(arylene ether nitrile)/multi-walled carbon nanotubes nanocomposites by controlling the precise interface

In this work, various covalently functionalized multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) such as nitrile-functionalized MWCNTs (MWCNTs-CN), phthalocyanine (Pc)-functionalized MWCNTs (MWCNTs-Pc), and magnetic MWCNTs (MWCNTs-Fe3O4) were prepared for exploring multifunctional poly(arylene ether nitrile)(PEN) nanocomposites. The morphologies and micro-structures of various functional MWCNTs were characterized by SEM and TEM. The tensile properties and dielectric properties of PEN/functional MWCNTs nanocomposites were investigated to evaluate the dispersion state, interfacial adhesion, and reinforcement efficiency of the functional MWCNTs. The results indicated that PEN/MWCNTs-Pc nanocomposites showed the higher tensile strength and modulus than PEN/MWCNTs-CN and PEN/magnetic MWCNTs nanocomposites due to its better dispersion and stronger interfacial adhesion. For the PEN composite with 2 wt% of MWCNTs-Pc, the tensile strength and modulus increased by 34.2 and 47.8 %, respectively. Owing to the synergistic effect between MWCNTs and Fe3O4 nanoparticles, the PEN nanocomposite with the magnetic MWCNTs loading content of 2 wt% showed obviously higher dielectric constant (32.3 at 1 kHz) than PEN/MWCNTs-Pc (10.1 at 1 kHz) and PEN/MWCNTs-CN (6.5 at 1 kHz) nanocomposites. Various functionalizations of MWCNTs would cause the different dispersion state and interfacial interactions which were confirmed by SEM and rheological test, thus determining the ultimate use of MWCNT-based nanocomposites in typical areas.