Aniline-Modified Polypropylene as a Compatibilizer in Polypropylene Carbon Nanotube Composites |
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Authors: | Juan Guillermo Martínez-Colunga Saul Sanchez-Valdes Luis Francisco Ramos-deValle Odilia Perez-Camacho Eduardo Ramirez-Vargas Roberto Benavides-Cantú |
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Affiliation: | Centro de Investigación en Química Aplicada, Saltillo, Coahuila, México |
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Abstract: | Maleic anhydride-grafted polypropylene (PP-g-MA) was reacted with aniline (NH2C6H5) to produce PP-g-NHC6H5 and used as a compatibilizer in polypropylene/carbon nanotube composites. Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance confirmed the reaction between PP-g-MA and aniline. PP-g-NHC6H5 resulted a better compatibilizer than PP-g-MA, producing good dispersion and homogeneous distribution of the carbon nanotubes with less agglomerates, as observed by SEM analysis. Improved dispersion and distribution is assumed to be due to the π–π interactions between the –C6H5 ring in the prepared compatibilizer and the hexagonal carbon structure in the nanotubes. In addition, a higher degree of crystallinity (12%) was promoted, since it was favored by π–π interactions. This achieved higher crystallinity promoted an increase in tensile modulus, with only slight changes in tensile strength but with an adverse effect on elongation at break. |
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Keywords: | Aniline carbon nanotubes compatibilization maleic anhydride polypropylene |
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