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Exponentially increased nucleation ability for poly(L-lactide) by adding acid-oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes with reduced aspect ratios

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Abstract

Acid-oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (A-MWCNTs) with a range of reduced aspect ratios (from about 11 to 5.8) were obtained by acid oxidization of MWCNTs in the mixture of HNO3 and H2SO4 for varying periods of 1, 3, 8 and 12 h, respectively. The aspect ratios and surface functionalization of A-MWCNTs were well characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Poly(L-lactide)/A-MWCNT composites containing 0.5 wt% A-MWCNTs with a range of reduced aspect ratios were prepared by solution cast. The effects of added A-MWCNTs on the isothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(L-lactide)/A-MWCNT composites were investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), rheology and polarized optical microscopy (POM). It is surprising to find that not only the addition of A-MWCNTs effectively increases the poly(L-lactide) (PLA) crystallization kinetics, but also the nucleation ability of A-MWCNTs for PLA crystallization exponentially increases with the reduced aspect ratio, that is to say, those with lower aspect ratios show much stronger nucleation ability for PLA crystallization than those with higher aspect ratios. The exponentially increased nucleation ability of A-MWCNTs with a range of reduced aspect ratios for PLA crystallization is disclosed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

    Yong Zhong, YaQiong Zhang, JingJing Yang, WenLin Li & ZhiGang Wang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130022, China

    DongHua Xu

  3. Institute of Polymer Materials & Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, China

    ShouYu Chen & YunSheng Ding

  4. Anhui Key Laboratory of Controllable Chemistry Reaction & Material Chemical Engineering, Hefei, 230009, China

    YunSheng Ding

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  1. Yong Zhong
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Zhong, Y., Zhang, Y., Yang, J. et al. Exponentially increased nucleation ability for poly(L-lactide) by adding acid-oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes with reduced aspect ratios. Sci. China Chem. 56, 181–194 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-012-4753-0

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