Crystallization behaviors of polyarylene ether nitrile filled in multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Abstract

The static isothermal and dynamic crystallization behaviors of poly(arylene ether nitrile) (PEN) filled in multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) (F-MWCNT) are studied in this work. The ends of the MWCNT are opened by NaOH at high temperature and then filled with PEN by capillary action. The filling of PEN in the MWCNT is confirmed by TEM observation, FT-IR and TGA measurements. The mass fraction of PEN filled in F-MWCNT is calculated to be 61.56 wt%. The static isothermal crystallization of F-MWCNT is investigated by placing the sample in a high temperature oven. DSC, TEM and STEM results show that the crystallization of F-MWCNT is constraint. The dynamic crystallization of F-MWCNT is investigated by shearing on a parallel-plate rheometer with different frequencies and different times at 320 °C. The evolution of the dynamic storage modulus (G′) as well as DSC, TEM and STEM measurements prove the crystallization of F-MWCNT under the shearing.