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Deformation and orientation during shear and elongation of a polycarbonate/carbon nanotubes composite in the melt

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Abstract

In this study, we focused on the elongational rheology and the morphology of an electrically conductive polycarbonate/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (2 wt%) composite in the melt. In shear and melt elongation, the influence of the carbon nanotubes was large when the externally applied stress was small. Consequently, the elastic interactions resulting from the carbon nanotubes dominated in the low frequency range of the shear oscillations. The elongational viscosity of the composite was only moderately influenced by the addition of 2 wt% carbon nanotubes. Transmission electron microscopy investigations of the stretched composite showed that isolated carbon nanotubes were oriented in elongation. In recovery after melt elongation, the recovered stretch of the composite was much smaller than the recovered stretch of pure polycarbonate. This effect is caused by the carbon nanotubes network, which prohibited large extensions of the macromolecules and led to a yield stress of the composite.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Polymer Service GmbH (Merseburg, Germany) for the TEM investigations and Professors Chr. Friedrich, J. Meissner, H.C. Öttinger, and M. Wagner for very valuable discussions. The continuous support of J. Hostettler, F. Mettler, and W. Schmidheiny is gratefully acknowledged. We also thank H. Kunath for the extraction experiments, P. Treppe, and D. Voigt for the gel permeation chromatography analysis, Dr. J. Pionteck for the density measurements, and K. Arnhold and L. Häußler for the differential scanning calorimetry investigations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials, Institute of Polymers, ETH Zürich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 10, HCI H 529, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland

    U. A. Handge

  2. Department of Polymer Reactions and Blends, Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Hohe Strasse 6, 01069, Dresden, Germany

    P. Pötschke

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  1. U. A. Handge
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  2. P. Pötschke
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Correspondence to U. A. Handge.

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Handge, U.A., Pötschke, P. Deformation and orientation during shear and elongation of a polycarbonate/carbon nanotubes composite in the melt. Rheol Acta 46, 889–898 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00397-007-0179-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00397-007-0179-6

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