Abstract
Carbon into polymer nanocomposite is so far a common additive for the enhancement of the polymer properties. The properties of the polymer, such as thermal, and especially its mechanical properties, are improved by the homogeneously dispersed carbon nanoparticles on the polymer matrix. In this study, carbon wires in nano dimensions are, for the very first time, synthesized via the hard templating method from the silicate matrix MCM-41, and used as nano additives of polystyrene. The carbon nanowires were chemically oxidized, and further modified by attaching octadecylamine molecules, for the development of organic functionalities onto carbon nanowires surface. The nanocomposite materials of polystyrene with the modified carbon nanowires were prepared by a solution-precipitation method at three nano additive to polymer loadings (1, 3 and 5 wt%). The as-derived nanocomposites were studied with a combination of characterization and analytical techniques. The results showed that the thermal and mechanical properties of the polystyrene nanocomposites gradually improved while increasing nano-additive loading until 3 wt%. More specifically, the 3 wt% loading sample showed the best mechanical properties, while the 5 wt% sample was difficult to achieve satisfactory dispersion of carbon nanowires and consequently has a wide range of values.
Highlights
Nanotechnology nowadays attracts a good amount of research and development efforts compared to other technological disciplines
98%, ammonia solution 25%, Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide 97% (CTAB) and toluene for analysis were purchased from Merck, whereas ethanol 99.8% was purchased from Fisher Scientific
According to previous studies on graphitized carbon, these peaks can be assigned to the asymmetric and symmetric stretching vibrations of the –COO− units close to aromatic rings [22,23]. These peaks are representative of the presence of carbonyl groups on carbon nanowires (CNWs)
Summary
Nanotechnology nowadays attracts a good amount of research and development efforts compared to other technological disciplines. A major area of research is based on the development of polymer-based nanocomposites. In the last few decades, the main efforts of polymer research have been concentrated on the development of novel nanocomposites, with the purpose of the enhancement of the basic properties of neat polymers. The polymer matrix is filled with several nano additives, with the goal of increasing properties, such as Young’s modulus, tensile strength and thermal properties. The key objectives are the optimal homogeneous dispersion of the nanofillers, so that we can achieve high surface area for the interaction with the polymer.
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