PMMA composites of single‐walled carbon nanotubes‐graft‐PMMA |
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Authors: | Abhijit Paul Brian P Grady Warren T Ford |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Chemistry, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma;2. Carbon Nanotube Technology Center (CaNTeC) and School of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma |
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Abstract: | To facilitate the dispersion of single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) into poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), SWCNT were functionalized with a RAFT chain transfer agent, and PMMA was grafted from the SWCNT by reversible addition–fragmentation transfer (RAFT) polymerization to give SWCNT‐g‐PMMA containing 6 wt % PMMA. SWCNT‐g‐PMMA in the form of small bundles was dispersed into PMMA matrices. The SWCNT‐g‐PMMA filler increased the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the composite when the matrix molecular weight Mn was less than the graft molecular weight, but not when the matrix Mn was equal to or greater than the graft Mn. The threshold of electrical conductivity of the composites as a function of weight percent SWCNT increased from 0.2% when matrix Mn was less than graft Mn to about 1% when matrix Mn was greater than graft Mn. Dynamic mechanical analyses of the composites having graft Mn less than or equal to matrix Mn showed broader rubbery plateaus with increased SWCNT content but no significant differences between samples with different grafted PMMAs. The results indicate that lower Mn matrix wets the SWCNT‐g‐PMMA whereas higher Mn matrix does not wet the SWCNT‐g‐PMMA. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 39884. |
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Keywords: | composites grafting functionalization of polymers nanotubes graphene and fullerenes |
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