“Patchy” Carbon Nanotubes as Efficient Compatibilizers for Polymer Blends

Abstract

Surface-modified carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have become well-established filler materials for polymer nanocomposites. However, in immiscible polymer blends, the CNT-coating is selective toward the more compatible phase, which suppresses their homogeneous distribution and limits harnessing the full potential of the filler. In this study, we show that multiwalled CNTs with a patchy polystyrene/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS/PMMA) corona disperse equally well in both phases of an incompatible PS/PMMA polymer blend. Unlike polymer-grafted CNTs with a uniform corona, the patchy CNTs are able to adjust their corona structure to the blend phases by selective swelling/collapse of respective miscible/immiscible surface patches. Importantly, the high interfacial activity of patchy CNTs further causes a significant decrease in PMMA droplet size with increasing filler content. The combined effect of compatibilization and homogeneous distribution makes patchy CNTs interesting materials for polymer blend nanocomposites, where next to the compatibilization, a homogeneous filler distribution is important to gain the desired materials property (e.g., reinforcement).

Investigation of surface properties and elastomeric behaviors of EPDM/EOC/PP thermoplastic vulcanizates with different octene contents

“…To enhance the blend properties, compatibility of the blend components must be improved. Several approaches are available to increase the interfacial adhesion of blend components, such as addition of compatibilizers, incorporating a third component at low dose level, reactive blending, and phase or surface treatment by radiation among others …”

Patchy Nanofibers from the Thin Film Self‐Assembly of a Conjugated Diblock Copolymer

“…To date,self-assembled patchy nanoparticles have been reported from the solution processing of complex polymeric materials such as dendritic and triblock copolymers [13,14] as well as surface-tethered polymers. [15,16] Such compartmentalized structures have potential unique applications in nano-templating,o rganic electronics, and drug delivery. [17,18] Forthis study,low dispersity samples of poly(3-dodecylthiophene) (P3DDT 50 )a nd poly(3-dodecylselenophene) (P3DDS 50 )h omopolymers (subscripts denote number average degree of polymerization or DP n )a sw ell as as elenophene-thiophene copolymer (P3DDS 50 -b-P3DDT 50 )w ere synthesized from the catalyst-transfer polymerization (CTP) of their corresponding 2,5-dibrominated monomers (Supporting Information, Scheme S1).…”

Direct visualization of the nanoscopic three‐phase structure and stiffness of NBR/PVC blends by AFM nanomechanical mapping

“…The inherent resolution and information obtained by those characterization techniques are known to differ extensively. The microstructure of polymer blends can be investigated by SEM or TEM after proper sample treatments such as etching or staining . Phase images obtained by tapping‐mode AFM (TM‐AFM) can reveal the phase structure in polymer blends .…”

“…The microstructure of polymer blends can be investigated by SEM or TEM after proper sample treatments such as etching or staining. [9][10][11][12] Phase images obtained by tapping-mode AFM (TM-AFM) can reveal the phase structure in polymer blends. [11][12][13][14] The microstructure of a blend system can also be characterized in an indirect way by SAXS experiments 15,16 or NMR spectroscopy.…”

“…[9][10][11][12] Phase images obtained by tapping-mode AFM (TM-AFM) can reveal the phase structure in polymer blends. [11][12][13][14] The microstructure of a blend system can also be characterized in an indirect way by SAXS experiments 15,16 or NMR spectroscopy. 17,18 A direct visualization of the microstructure and nanomechanical properties of TPEs has been a fundamental focus for designing and developing advanced elastomer-based materials, which, however, has not been assessed.…”