Influence of multiwall carbon nanotubes on morphology and electrical conductivity of PP/ABS blends |
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Authors: | Rupesh A Khare Arup R Bhattacharyya Ajit R Kulkarni Madhumita Saroop Amit Biswas |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076, India;2. Materials and Engineering Research, Polymer Research and Technology Centre, Reliance Industries Limited, Chembur, Mumbai 400071, India |
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Abstract: | Polypropylene (PP) and acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene (ABS) blends with multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNT) were prepared by melt mixing. PP/ABS blends without MWNT revealed coarse co continuous structures on varying the ABS content from 40 to 70 wt %. Bulk electrical conductivity of the blends showed lower percolation threshold (0.4–0.5 wt %) in the 45/55 co continuous blends whereas the percolation threshold was between 2 and 3 wt % in matrix‐particle dispersed morphology of 80/20 blends. Interestingly, droplet size was observed to decrease with addition of MWNT above percolation threshold in 80/20 blends. Further, the bulk electrical conductivity was found to be dependent on the melt flow index of PP. The non‐polar or weakly polar nature of blends constituents resulted in the temperature independent dielectric constant, dielectric loss, and DC electrical conductivity. Rheological analysis revealed the formation of 3D network‐like structure in 80/20 PP/ABS blends at 3 wt % MWNT. An attempt was made to understand the relationship between rheology, morphology, and electrical conductivity of these blends. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 2286–2295, 2008 |
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Keywords: | blends electrical conductivity morphology multi‐wall carbon nanotubes nanocomposites |
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