Influence of multiwall carbon nanotubes on morphological and structural changes during UV irradiation of syndiotactic polypropylene films |
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| Authors: | L Guadagno M Raimondo C Naddeo A Di Bartolomeo K Lafdi |
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| Institution: | 1. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale, Università di Salerno, Via Ponte Don Melillo, 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy;2. NANO_MATES, Research Centre for NANOMAterials and nanoTEchnology at Salerno University, Università di Salerno,Via Ponte Don Melillo, 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy;3. Dipartimento di Fisica “E. Caianiello”, Università di Salerno,Via Ponte Don Melillo, 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy;4. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Dayton, 300 College Park, Dayton, Ohio 45440 |
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| Abstract: | The effect of UV irradiation on the morphology and structure of syndiotactic polypropylene (sPP) is investigated both for pure films and those filled with multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). UV treatment causes a structural reorganization of pure sPP films. It seems that the incorporation of MWCNTs has a strong stabilizing effect, with nanotubes acting as a limiter of the UV‐induced chain breakage, especially when a good dispersion of carbon nanotubes in the polymer is achieved. The incorporation of MWCNTs introduces a high concentration of defects in the crystal structure of sPP, which limits the UV‐induced growth of crystallites, and prevents the development and propagation of cracks caused by UV irradiation. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2012 |
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| Keywords: | atomic force microscopy carbon nanotubes composites degradation poly(propylene) |
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