The preparation, structures, and properties of poly(vinylidene fluoride)/multiwall carbon nanotubes nanocomposites

Abstract

Abstract Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)/multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were prepared by a phase inversion technique. Long chain macromolecules, maleic anhydride grafted PVDF (PVDF‐MAH) were used to fine tune the interface. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images revealed that the MWCNTs are quasi‐homogeneously dispersed in the PVDF matrix. The results of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR‐FTIR) showed that the addition of MWCNTs induced β‐phase PVDF, and both the melting behavior and crystal structures of PVDF did not change obviously by the addition of MWCNTs. However, the addition of long chain macromolecules PVDF‐MAH did not alter the crystal structure according to the ATR‐FTIR test, but significantly changed the melting behavior as evidenced by a multiple melting behavior detected by DSC. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) tests showed that both the addition of MWCNTs and PVDF‐MAH increased the storage modulus and the improvement of nanocomposites was better at low temperature regions than high temperature regions. In addition, no significant change of the T g was observed with the addition of MWCNTs and PVDF‐MAH. Tensile tests showed that the addition of MWCNTs and PVDF‐MAH increased the modulus and tensile strength. Creep test showed that the addition of MWCNTs can increase the creep stability. However, the interfacial modification here was not enough to change the creep behavior significantly. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012