Abstract
Nanocomposites made of blends of ether-based thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) and ester-based TPUs with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were studied. The TPU blend/MWCNT nanocomposites had higher electrical conductivities than those containing a single TPU. At a specific MWCNT loading, quenched or annealed TPU blend nanocomposites exhibited electrical conductivities three to four orders of magnitude larger than single TPU samples. Using Lorentz corrections, invariant quantity, Q inv , in small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analysis, MWCNTs were found to retard phase separation. Raman spectra indicated the existence of interactions between phenyl rings in the TPUs and the MWCNT. Good dispersion of MWCNTs in the TPU blend was observed with transmission electron microscopy (TEM); both isolated droplet and co-continuous phase-separated morphologies were shown. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements were performed to investigate the changes in morphology. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) results were consistent with the DSC results.
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