1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Soongsil University, Seoul 156‐743, Korea;2. School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151‐744, Korea
Abstract:
An in situ lubrication dispersion method is developed to achieve electrical conductivity in PP containing a small amount of MWCNTs. Good dispersion of the MWCNTs in PP is observed even after a short mixing time because the interactions between the entangled nanotubes are reduced. By in situ lubrication dispersion, the electrical percolation threshold of the PP nanocomposite can be as low as 0.5–0.7 wt% MWCNT. Rheological data also support percolation at 0.5 wt% MWCNT. With 0.5 wt% MWCNT, the slope of G′ at low frequency approaches unity and shows non‐terminal behavior. The proposed dispersion method enhances the wetting of MWCNTs and improves MWCNT dispersion compared to both direct mixing of MWCNT powder with a polymer melt and conventional master batch dilution.
