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Electrical conductivity, phase behavior, and rheology of polypropylene/polystyrene blends with multi-walled carbon nanotube

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Abstract

The electrical, rheological properties and phase change behavior of polypropylene (PP)/polystyrene (PS) blends filled with multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) were investigated. Two kinds of masterbatch were used to prepare ternary blends of PP, PS, and MWNT, and the effects of the kinds of masterbatch were confirmed by phase morphology of ternary blends and the distribution of MWNT. From thermodynamic analysis, MWNT is expected to locate in PS phase and it shows a good agreement with the TEM observations. The ternary composites show the lowest conductive percolation threshold and fine morphologies when most MWNT particles are located at the interface. Time sweep test were carried out to monitor the phase coalescence of the ternary blends and MWNT migration and agglomeration in the PS phase during annealing. The enhancement of thermal properties of MWNT-filled blends was also investigated by DSC and TGA.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the BK21 Education and Research Group, and the special grants of Sogang University are gratefully acknowledged. This work is also supported in part by grants of KRICT General Research Program (SI-1104) and Fundamental R&D Program for Core Technology of Materials (No. K006005, Ministry of Knowledge Economy).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Daeduk Research Institute, Honam Petrochemical Corp, Daejeon, 305-726, Korea

    Tae Yong Hwang

  2. Advanced Functional Materials Research Group, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Daejeon, 305-600, Korea

    Youngjae Yoo

  3. Applied Rheology Center, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Sogang University, Seoul, 121-742, Korea

    Jae Wook Lee

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  1. Tae Yong Hwang
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  2. Youngjae Yoo
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  3. Jae Wook Lee
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Correspondence to Youngjae Yoo or Jae Wook Lee.

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Hwang, T.Y., Yoo, Y. & Lee, J.W. Electrical conductivity, phase behavior, and rheology of polypropylene/polystyrene blends with multi-walled carbon nanotube. Rheol Acta 51, 623–636 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00397-012-0630-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00397-012-0630-1

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