Abstract
Despite manufacturers’ goal of molding single component products from plastics, the structures of some of the products are far too complex to be molded as a single piece. Therefore, assembly of subcomponents into the final products is important for the manufacturing of many plastic-based products. To date, welding is the most efficient joining method for plastics. In this study, multiwalled carbon nanotubes were proposed as the susceptor for the microwave welding of high-density polyethylene considering multiwalled carbon nanotube is a good microwave absorber. multiwalled carbon nanotubes were first dispersed in ethanol in an ultrasonic bath to obtain a homogeneous dispersion. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes dispersion was dropped on the targeted area of the prepared dumbbell-shaped sample and dried in an oven at 45°C for 30 min. The sample was then subjected to 800 W microwave irradiation in the domestic microwave oven. The strength of the weld was tested by using tensile testing. Besides, the cross section of the welded joint was characterized by using scanning electron microscopy. The effect of microwave heating duration and the multiwalled carbon nanotube concentration in the dispersion were studied. It was found that the joint strength increased as the heating duration increase from 2 s to 8 s but decreased when the heating duration was further extended to 10 s. Scanning electron microscopic images showed that voids were formed at the joint interface when 10 s was used and resulted in the lowering of joint strength. In the study of the effect of the multiwalled carbon nanotube concentration in the dispersion, joint strength increased when the multiwalled carbon nanotubes concentration increased from 0.25 wt% to 0.75 wt%. However, the joint strength of sample with 1.00 wt% multiwalled carbon nanotube concentration decreased. The presence of a thick unwelded multiwalled carbon nanotubes layer at the joint interface for sample with 1.00 wt% multiwalled carbon nanotubes concentration as shown in scanning electron microscopic image was believed to cause the lowering of joint strength.
Highlights
As the heating duration was further increased to 10 s, defects such as void may form at the joint due to prolonged microwave heating and resulted in lower joint strength
multiwalled CNTs (MWCNTs) can be used as the susceptor for the microwave welding of high-density polyethylene (HDPE)
In the study of effect of concentration of MWCNTs in dispersion, microwave heating duration of 8 s was used and the concentration of MWCNTs in dispersion varied from 0.25 wt% to 1.00 wt%
Summary
With its ability to take a good finishing, excellent strength to weight ratio, and good corrosion resistance, thermoplastics such as high-density polyethylene (HDPE) are widely. Sun et al reported the microwave welding of PP using pre-prepared CNTs-PLA solder system.[17] They demonstrated that the welded PP joint shows high bonding strength due to the formation of CNT-filled PP nanocomposite at the joint These studies indicated that microwave welding using CNTs-filled composites coating as susceptor can provide a fast joining of thermoplastic with excellent strength of the welded joint. CNTs can be applied as susceptors on structure with complex geometrical configuration This microwave welding method can widen the application of MWCNTs-polymer composite for advanced applications such as smart coating materials for deicing by self-heating as well as by detection of the freezing temperature as reported by Jang et al.[18] In this article, MWCNTs were used as susceptor for the microwave welding of HDPE. In this study, the effect of concentration of MWCNTs in dispersion and microwave heating duration on the tensile strength and microstructure of cross section of the welded joint were studied and reported
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