Effect of multi-walled carbon nanotubes on the lamellae morphology of polyamide-6

We show that crystal organization on both micro and nanoscales can be profoundly modified by dispersing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in polyamide-6 by melt compounding. X-ray diffraction and transmission and scanning electron microscopies all indicate that when CNTs are well dispersed, crystalline spheru...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polymer (Guilford) 2008-10, Vol.49 (21), p.4680-4686
Main Authors: Brosse, Anne-Carine, Tencé-Girault, Sylvie, Piccione, Patrick M., Leibler, Ludwik
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Carbon nanotubes
Composites
Exact sciences and technology
Forms of application and semi-finished materials
Polyamide-6
Polymer industry, paints, wood
Technology of polymers
Trans-crystalline lamellae
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Summary:We show that crystal organization on both micro and nanoscales can be profoundly modified by dispersing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in polyamide-6 by melt compounding. X-ray diffraction and transmission and scanning electron microscopies all indicate that when CNTs are well dispersed, crystalline spherulites are not present and remarkably crystalline lamellae grow aligning perpendicularly to the surface of the nanotubes. Such an epitaxial growth induced by CNTs during melt processing is particular to polyamide-6 because of crystallographic matching of CNTs and polyamide-6 crystal lattices. Macroscopically this epitaxial nucleation and growth can be detected and quantified by examining the splitting of the exothermic peak in calorimetric (DSC) experiments. Using optical microscopy and image analysis we show that the amount of trans-crystalline epitaxial crystallites increases when CNTs' dispersion quality is improved. [Display omitted]
ISSN:0032-3861
1873-2291
DOI:10.1016/j.polymer.2008.08.003