Direct growth of layered double hydroxides in an aqueous suspension of carbon nanotubes and their application as fillers in polypropylene

Abstract

Abstract Interesting composites with three-dimensional (3D) structure that combine one-dimensional (1D) carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with two-dimensional (2D) lamellar flakes show excellent potential properties for application in polymer matrices. Herein, we describe the construction of a composite of CNTs and 2D flakes by in situ growth of layered double hydroxides (LDH) in CNTs aqueous suspensions. It has been found that the morphology of the LDH/CNTs composites can be easily tuned by changing the CNTs concentration ( C CNTs ) and the LDH growth time. The introduction of CNTs did not severely perturb the main crystalline structure of LDH. A plausible model for the in situ growth mechanism is proposed to describe the temporal evolution of the LDH morphology as well as the influence of C CNTs on the morphology of the LDH/CNTs composites. The as-obtained LDH/CNTs 3D composites with interlayer dodecyl-benzenesulfonate anions have proved to be efficient fillers, significantly improving the mechanical properties and thermal stability of polypropylene (PP).