Dielectric, mechanical and thermal properties of novel core–shell CuPc@MWCNTs/PEN composite films

Abstract

In this work, multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were successfully enwrapped by a thin layer of tetra-nitrophthalocyanine copper (CuPc) via solvent-thermal method. EDS spectrum shows that the hybrid materials are mainly composed of C, Cu, N and O elements. TEM images exhibit that the MWCNT was wholly coated with a layer of CuPc and micro-nanoscale core–shell CuPc@MWCNTs were formed. FTIR reveals the detailed chemical groups of micro-nanoscale core–shell CuPc@MWCNTs. Thereafter, CuPc@MWCNTs/polyarylene nitrile ethers (PEN) composite films were prepared via solution-casting method. The CuPc@MWCNTs/PEN composite films possess excellent thermal and mechanical properties endowed by PEN matrix. The glass transition temperature of the composite films is about 175 °C and the initial decomposition temperature is in the range of 494–499 °C. Besides, the tensile modulus of the composite films is above 70 MPa. Furthermore, the dielectric constant of the composite film with 5.0 wt% CuPc@MWCNTs loading is 31 at 50 Hz while the dielectric loss is 0.58 at 50 Hz.