Polyethylene Functionalized Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes via In situ Polymerization

摘要

The MWNTs/PE nanocomposites are prepared by in situ polymerization with mulltiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) supported Cp_2ZrCl_2 catalyst and MAO as cocatalyst. The SEM and AFM results show that MWNTs are exfoliated and homogenously dispersed in PE matrix by the in situ polymerization. The up-shifting of the G band in Raman spectra show the strong compressive forces associated with PE chains on the MWNTs. The storage modulus of the MWNTs/PE nanocomposite can be increased by 160% even at low amount of MWNTs (0.2 wt%) due to MWNTs well-dispersed and exfoliated in the matrix. The TGA and DMA tests point to significant improvements on thermal and mechanical properties of the PE/MWNTs nanocomposites compared to pure PE.