Influence of carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes in potentially biodegradable poly(amide-imide) nanocomposites

In this paper, carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CA-MWCNTs)/poly(amide-imide) (PAI) bionanocomposites (BNC)s were prepared by a solution mixing method. The existence of S-valine as a biodegradable segment in optically active PAI, resulted in a potentially biodegradable nanocomposites The PAI/CA-MWCNT BNCs were prepared with different CA-MWCNT contents (5-15 wt.%). The obtained nanocomposites were characterized by various techniques. FE-SEM and TEM observations confirmed that ultrasonically-assisted solution compounding was helpful route disperse CNTs in polymer matrix. A fine dispersion of CA-MWCNT bundles in the PAI matrix was achieved due to hydrogen bonding interaction between carboxyl groups that is attached on the surface of MWCNTs and NH moiety of imide and amide in PAI chains. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that the addition of CA-MWCNT into PAI matrix led to obvious improvements in the thermal properties due to the enhanced interfacial interaction and good dispersion of CA-MWCNTs in the polymer matrix especially with low filler content of CA-MWCNT (5 and 10 wt.%).

Keywords:

Poly(amide-imide) , carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes , nanocomposites , ultrasound irradiation , solution blending