The structure of nanofiller and interfacial contacts in nanocomposites polymer/carbon nanotube | Mekhanika | kompozitsionnykh | materialov i konstruktsii
> Volume 25 > №3 / 2019 / Pages: 354-364

The structure of nanofiller and interfacial contacts in nanocomposites polymer/carbon nanotube

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Abstract:

The structural aspects of interfacial adhesion in nanocomposites polymer/carbon nanotube on the base of polyamide-6 were studies. As it is known, carbon nanotubes in polymer matrix of nanocomposites create annular formations, which are a structural analogue of macromolecular coils of branched polymers. It has been shown experimentally that the indicated annular formations are fractal objects. Since macromolecular coils of polymer matrix have fractal structure also, then formation of interfacial contacts in the considered nanocomposites can be simulated as result of interaction of two mentioned above fractal objects. With this purpose the fractal model, based on the main postulates of Flory theory, was used. It is proposed that the level of interfacial adhesion in polymer nanocomposites is defined by number of contacts polymer matrix-nanofiller. This assumption is confirmed by linear correlation of the indicated contacts number and dimensionless parameter , characterizing the level of interfacial adhesion. The obtained relationship allows to establish approximately linear correlation between number of contacts polymer matrix-nanofiller and radius of annular formations of carbon nanotubes. The indicated circumstances give possibility to obtain percolation relationship, in which at fixed content of nanofiller reinforcement degree is defined by number of contacts polymer matrix-nanofiller only. Besides, these equations demonstrate that reinforcement degree of polymer nanocomposites is controlled by structure of nanofiller in polymer matrix. The proposed model assumes that for enhancement of reinforcement degree of nanocomposites simultaneous increasing of radius of annular formations of carbon nanotubes, their dimension and dimension of macromolecular coil of polymer matrix is required. Since simultaneous increase of all indicated parameters is impossible, then search of their optimal combination is necessary. And at last, let us note the strong dependence of number of contacts polymer matrix-nanofiller on level and type of interactions between carbon nanotubes them self. At transition from repulsive interactions to attractive ones the indicated contacts number reduces sharply.

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