The Role of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes in the Mechanical, Thermal, Rheological, and Electrical Properties of PP/PLA/MWCNTs Nanocomposites

Abstract

Polypropylene/polylactic acid (PP/PLA) blend (10–40% of PLA) and PP/PLA/MWCNTs nanocomposites (0.5, 1, and 2 wt% of MWCNTs) were prepared via melt compounding. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a co-continuous PLA phase in the PP/PLA blends with high PLA content. Moreover, the addition of 2 wt% multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) increased the tensile modulus and tensile strength of the PP/PLA40% by 60% and 95%, respectively. A conductive network was found with the addition of 2 wt% MWCNTs, where the electrical conductivity of the PP/PLA increased by nine orders of magnitude. At 2 wt% MWCNTs, a solid network within the composite was characterized by rheological assessment, where the composite turned from nonterminal to terminal behavior. Soil burial testing of the PP/PLA blend within 30 days in natural humus compost soil featured suitable biodegradation, which indicates the PP/PLA blend is as an appropriate candidate for food packing applications.

Numerical simulation of the effective permittivity of low‐density polyethylene composite filled by carbon black

“…The intra-connection between the CB particles in the aggregated regions resulted in a higher effective permittivity of 3.22 with respect to 3.06 of the LDPE/CB 10 vol.% without any connection between the particles. The growth in effective permittivity of composites has been shown in experimentally studies thanks to the intra-connection of conductive particles [36][37][38][39]. Similarly, a higher electric field on the surface of the particles was observed for the LDPE/CB composite with 10 vol.% for some locally aggregated regions (see Fig.…”

Compatibilization and Characterization of Polylactide and Biopolyethylene Binary Blends by Non-Reactive and Reactive Compatibilization Approaches

“…Blending of PLA with other polymers has been extensively analyzed using other biopolymers such as starch [ 4 , 5 , 6 ], polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) [ 7 , 8 , 9 ], poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) [ 10 , 11 , 12 ], or polybutylene adipate -co- terephthalate (PBAT) [ 13 , 14 , 15 ]. In addition, the effectiveness of blends of PLA with some petroleum-derived commodity plastics such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) [ 16 , 17 ], polyvinyl chloride (PVC) [ 18 ], thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) [ 19 , 20 ], polypropylene (PP) [ 21 , 22 ], and polyethylene (PE) [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ] has been reported. Bearing in mind this wide potential of PLA blends, it should be noted that currently, PE can either be obtained from a petrochemical route or a bio-based approach, leading to so-called green polyethylene or bioPE.…”

Enhancement in electrical and thermal performance of high‐temperature vulcanized silicone rubber composites for outdoor insulating applications

“…The addition of TiO 2 to the S rubber was resulted in a higher dielectric constant due to significant higher permittivity of TiO 2 (approximately 110) with respect to the silicone rubber (3.1), [41] as well as a significant charge accumulation at the surface boundaries of the TiO 2 particles (interfacial polarization) which can be enhanced by possible moisture absorption by the filler. [20,[42][43][44] Thus, when a heterogeneous material is subjected to an electric field of ΔV = V1 − V2, as seen in Figure 4, the incorporation of conductive fillers, moisture absorption as well as charge accumulation at the surface boundaries increase the charge carrier along the materials. [28,45] 3.3 | AC dielectric breakdown (BD) Figure 5 shows the Weibull distribution plot of the BD strength of the S rubber and its composites with MFS, TiO 2, and graphene.…”