Poly(trimethylene terephthalate‐block‐tetramethylene oxide) elastomer/single‐walled carbon nanotubes nanocomposites: Synthesis,structure, and properties

Nanocomposites based on poly(trimethylene terephthalate)‐block‐poly(tetramethylene oxide) (PTT‐PTMO)‐segmented copolymer and COOH‐functionalized single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were prepared by in situ polymerization method. The obtained nanocomposites were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), DMTA, wide‐angle x‐ray scattering (WAXS), small‐angle X‐ray scattering, and tensile testing. The nanocomposites with low SWCNTs loading (<0.5 wt %) shows uniform dispersion of CNT in polymer matrix. As the SWCNTs loading in the nanocomposites increase, the significant improvement of thermo‐oxidative stability was observed. It was found that the nanocomposites have slightly higher degree of crystallinity (determined by DSC and WAXS) of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) hard phase than neat PTT‐PTMO copolymer. The melting point of PTT hard phase and glass transition temperature of poly(tetramethylene oxide)‐rich phase were not affected by the presence of CNTs in polymer matrix. The SWCNTs played a role as nucleating agent in PTT‐PTMO matrix, which led to increase in the crystallization rate. Tensile tests showed that the tensile strength of the nanocomposites with 0.05–0.3 wt % loading of SWCNTs have improved tensile strength in comparison to the neat PTT‐PTMO copolymer without reduction elongation at break. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012