Efficient load transfer to polymer-grafted multiwalled carbon nanotubes in polymer composites

Abstract

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) grafted with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) were synthesized by emulsion reactions and used as a reinforcement for commercial PMMA. Both scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that the applied tensile load on the composites was transferred to the PMMA-grafted MWNTs, leading to a strain failure of the MWNTs rather than an adhesive failure between the MWNTs and the matrix. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) data showed that the storage modulus at 20°C of the PMMA composite containing 20 wt.-% of the PMMA-grafted MWNTs was significantly enhanced by ∼ 29 GPa (or by ∼ 1100%) as compared with commercial PMMA.