The Influence of MWCNTs Amounts and PVP Aqueous Solutions on the Properties of PVA/PVP/MWCNTs Nanocomposite Membranes

Abstract

In this article, the surface functionalization of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) is performed using a tris(2-aminoethyl)amine (TAA) to generate functional moieties (−NH2) on the surface. The functionalized MWCNTs (f-MWCNTs) are incorporated in the blend polymers of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) to fabricate a nanocomposite membrane via phase inversion process, which are named PVA/PVP/f-MWCNT. The nanocomposite membranes are characterized by a field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), water contact angle. The FE-SEM images show that the PVA/PVP/f-MWCNTs nanocomposite membrane consisting 0.01 g of f-MWCNTs exhibits a uniform morphology and good dispersion of f-MWCNTs. The X-ray results demonstrate that the incorporation of f-MWCNTs has successfully changed the structural properties of the nanocomposite membranes. TGA analysis indicates that the PVA/PVP/f-MWCNTs nanocomposite membranes exhibit higher thermal properties than the pristine PVA/PVP blend membrane. The weight loss within 420 °C–550 °C is increased from 34.62 to 55.66% with increasing the PVP content from 1 wt% to 8 wt%, respectively. The contact angle measurements indicate that addition of f-MWCNTs to the PVA/PVP blend membrane has improved hydrophilic properties.