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Polystyrene composites with very high carbon nanotubes loadings by in situ grafting polymerization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2013

Claudia G. Espinosa-González ,
Fernando J. Rodríguez-Macías ,
Abraham G. Cano-Márquez ,
Jasmeet Kaur ,
Meisha L. Shofner  and
Yadira I. Vega-Cantú
Claudia G. Espinosa-González
Affiliation:
Advanced Materials Department, Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (IPICYT), Camino a la Presa San José 2055, San Luis Potosí 78216, México
Fernando J. Rodríguez-Macías
Affiliation:
Advanced Materials Department, Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (IPICYT), Camino a la Presa San José 2055, San Luis Potosí 78216, México; and Department of Fundamental Chemistry, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco 50740-540, Brazil
Abraham G. Cano-Márquez
Affiliation:
Advanced Materials Department, Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (IPICYT), Camino a la Presa San José 2055, San Luis Potosí 78216, México
Jasmeet Kaur
Affiliation:
School of Polymer, Textile & Fiber Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0295
Meisha L. Shofner
Affiliation:
School of Polymer, Textile & Fiber Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0295; and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0245
Yadira I. Vega-Cantú*
Affiliation:
Advanced Materials Department, Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (IPICYT), Camino a la Presa San José 2055, San Luis Potosí 78216, México; and Department of Fundamental Chemistry, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco 50740-540, Brazil
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]
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Abstract

We introduce a novel method for producing polystyrene (PS)-grafted multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), which provides a direct route to composites where carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are the major component. Infrared and Raman spectroscopies confirmed that the MWCNTs were functionalized with PS. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that CNTs increase thermal stability of the composite up to a critical loading (∼40 wt%) beyond which high nanotube loadings decrease the polymer degradation temperature, as a consequence of the thermal properties of CNTs and the composite morphology. Even at loadings as high as 80 wt% MWCNTs, the composite is an effective masterbatch material for both solution- and melt-processing. These results show that in situ polymerizations can be flexible and robust techniques for nanocomposite processing, overcoming limitations of conventional processing techniques to produce nanocomposites with very high nanotube loadings, not achieved hitherto.

Keywords

compositepolymerizationnanoscale
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 28 , Issue 8 , 28 April 2013 , pp. 1087 - 1096
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2013

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