Enhancement of the thermal and mechanical properties of polyurethane/polyvinyl chloride blend by loading single walled carbon nanotubes

Abstract

Structural, thermal, and mechanical properties of pure blend and nanocomposites based on polyurethane (PU) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) doped with low different content of single walled-carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were studied. The nanocomposites at different concentration were prepared via casting technique. The interaction between PU/PVC and CNTs were examined via FT-IR studies. The changes in the structures of the nanocomposites were examined using X- Ray Diffraction (XRD), and the results indicated that the amorphous domains of nanocomposites increased with increasing SWCNTs content. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) observation indicated that SWCNTs surface was wrapped with the polymer with the thermal properties of nanocomposites improved. The mechanical behavior of the nanocomposites was evaluated as a function of SWCNTs content. The main enhancement in tensile properties was observed, e.g., the tensile strength and elastic modulus increased compared with the pure blend, which may be attributed to the interaction and adhesion between CNTs and the polymer matrices due to the hydrogen bonding between carbonyl groups (C=O) of polymer blend chains and carboxylic acid (COOH) groups of CNTs.