Effects of Glass Fiber on Electrical Conductivities of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube-filled Polymer/Thermoplastic Polyurethane Blends

doi:10.7503/cjcu20150939

Abstract

Abstract:

The effects of epoxy-functionalized glass fiber(GF) on the electrical conductivities of polypropylene(PP)/thermoplastic polyurethane(TPU)/multiwalled carbon nanotube(MWCNT), poly(methyl methacrylate)(PMMA)/TPU/MWCNT and poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/TPU/MWCNT composites were investigated. The electrical resistivities of polymer/MWCNT composites increase with the addition of TPU due to the selective location of MWCNTs in the TPU phase. After the addition of GF, the electrical resistivities of polymer/TPU/MWCNTs composites are significantly reduced by up to 13 orders of magnitude, indicating that the addition of GF is a universal and effective method to improve the electrical conductivities of MWCNTs-filled polymer blends with TPU as the dispersed phase. The mechanism for resistivity reduction of GF-filled system is mainly the formation of TPU coated GF structure which serves as long conductive rod with high aspect ratio, facilitating the construction of conductive paths, although the effective concentration of the conductive species increases because of the volume-exclusion effect of GF. It is found that the contents of GF and MWCNTs are important factors affecting the electrical conductivities of the composites.

Key words: Thermoplastic polyurethane, Glass fiber, Multiwalled carbon nanotube, Conductivity

CLC Number:

O631

TrendMD:

ZHANG Boyuan, GUO Zhaoxia, YU Jian. Effects of Glass Fiber on Electrical Conductivities of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube-filled Polymer/Thermoplastic Polyurethane Blends[J]. Chem. J. Chinese Universities, 2016, 37(6): 1216.

Figures/Tables 10

Fig.1 Effects of GF on electrical resistivities of PP/TPU/MWCNT(A), PMMA/TPU/MWCNT(B) and PLA/TPU/MWCNT(C) composites(A) a. PP/TPU/4%MWCNT, b. PP/TPU/4%MWCNT/20%GF; (B) a. PMMA/TPU/1.5%MWCNT,b. PMMA/TPU/1.5%MWCNT/20%GF; (C) a. PLA/TPU/1%MWCNT, b. PLA/TPU/1%MWCNT/20%GF.

Table 1 Contact angles in water and diiodomethane and surface tensions of all polymers at 20 ℃

Sample	Contact angle/(°)		γ/(mN·m^-1)	γ^d/(mN·m^-1)	γ^p/(mN·m^-1)
Sample	Water		γ/(mN·m^-1)	γ^d/(mN·m^-1)	Diiodomethane
PP	97.3	49.5	38.1	37.9	0.2
PMMA	66.6	26.5	46.2	36.1	10.1
PLA	74.3	39.8	40.0	32.5	7.5
TPU	102.4	73.4	21.5	20.4	1.1

Table 2 Surface tensions of all polymers at processing temperature

Sample	Temperature/℃	γ/(mN·m^-1)	γ^d/(mN·m^-1)	γ^p/(mN·m^-1)
PP	200	26.5	26.4	0.1
PMMA	200	32.3	25.2	7.1
PLA	190	28.5	23.2	5.3
TPU	200	15.0	14.2	0.8
TPU	190	15.3	14.5	0.8
MWCNTs^[33]		45.3	18.4	26.9
MWCNTs^[34]		27.8	17.6	10.2

Table 3 Wetting coefficients and predicted locations of MWCNTs

System	ω_a	Predicted location of MWCNTs	System	ω_a	Predicted location of MWCNTs
PP/TPU/MWCNT^[33]	0.7	Interface	PMMA/TPU/MWCNT^[34]	-0.8	Interface
PP/TPU/MWCNT^[34]	0.8	Interface	PLA/TPU/MWCNT^[33]	-1.9	PLA phase
PMMA/TPU/MWCNT^[33]	-1.5	PMMA phase	PLA/TPU/MWCNT^[34]	-1.1	PLA phase

Fig.2 FESEM images of PP/4%MWCNT(A), PP/10%TPU/4%MWCNT after etching(B), PMMA/1.5%MWCNT(C), PMMA/10%TPU/1.5%MWCNT(D), PLA/1%MWCNT(E) and PLA/10%TPU/1%MWCNT(F) composites

Fig.3 FESEM images of PP/4%MWCNT/20%GF(A), PP/10%TPU/4%MWCNT/20%GF(B) and PP/20%TPU/4%MWCNT/20%GF(C) compositesTop inset of (B): PP matrix; bottom inset of (B): GF surface.

Fig.4 FESEM images of PMMA/10%TPU/1.5%MWCNT/20%GF(A) and PLA/10% TPU/1%MWCNT/20%GF(B) composites

Fig.5 Illustration of mechanism for construction of conductive paths

Fig.6 Effects of GF contents on electrical resistivities of PP/10%TPU/4%MWCNT/GF(a) and PP/4%MWCNT/GF(b) composites

Fig.7 Effects of MWCNTs contents on electrical resistivities of polymer/10%TPU/MWCNT/20%GF compositesa. PP/10%TPU/MWCNT/20%GF;b. PMMA/10%TPU/MWCNT/20%GF;c. PLA/10%TPU/MWCNT/20%GF.

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