The effect of multi-walled carbon nanotubes on morphology, crystallinity and mechanical properties of PBT/MWCNT composit
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ORIGINAL PAPER
The effect of multi-walled carbon nanotubes on morphology, crystallinity and mechanical properties of PBT/MWCNT composite nanofibers O. Saligheh & M. Forouharshad & R. Arasteh & R. Eslami-Farsani & R. Khajavi & B. Yadollah Roudbari
Received: 1 August 2012 / Accepted: 19 December 2012 / Published online: 20 January 2013 # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
Abstract Composite nanofibers of Poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT)/multiwalled-carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were prepared by electrospinning technique in the form of a random fibers web. The effect of MWCNTs on the morphology, crystallinity, and mechanical properties of the electrospun composite nanofibers was investigated by SEM, DSC, and tensile testing, respectively. SEM observations indicated that the presence of MWCNTs resulted in finer nanofibers for lower loading; however, a broader diameter was found for nanofibers with higher amounts of carbon nanotubes.It was also observed that the melt-crystallization temperature (Tc) of PBT nanofibers shifted to a higher temperature (about 8 °C) by the incorporation of MWCNTs which might be due to the nucleating effect of the nanotubes. The mechanical properties (specific strength and modulus) of the PBT nanofibers were significantly enhanced by the incorporation of MWCNTs. Keywords Composite nanofiber . Poly(butylene terephthalate) . Multiwalled-carbon nanotubes . Electrospinning O. Saligheh (*) : M. Forouharshad (*) : R. Arasteh : B. Yadollah Roudbari Young Researchers Club, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] R. Eslami-Farsani Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, K. N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran R. Khajavi Textile Department, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Introduction Conventional polymeric fibers which are synthesized by wet, dry, melt and gel spinning methods have diameter range down to the micrometer scale. Electrospinning known as electrostatic spinning technique produces nanoscale fibers from both natural and synthetic sources with diameters in the range of submicron to nanosize [1]. During this process, an electrical potential is applied between a droplet of a polymer melt, or solution, held at the end of a capillary tube and a metallic collector. When the applied electric forces overcome the surface tension of the fluid droplet, a charged jet of polymer solution is ejected from the needle tip and deposited on the metallic collector, which results in a thin mat of nanofibers by evaporation of the solvent. Since the carbon nanotube was discovered by Ijima in 1991 [2], it has attracted great interests throughout the academic and industrial world due to its extraordinary mechanical, electrical and thermal properties. Carbon nanotubes generally tend to exist as bundles or even networks of aggregates due to van der Waals forces [3], problems in fabrication that prevent achievement of their superior physical properties; therefore for exploiting their full po
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