• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.14-19
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• 2014

Nanocomposites based on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/(PVDF) blended with carbon fibers (CF) and carbon nanotube (CNT) were prepared by melt mixing in the twin screw extruder. Morphologies of the PMMA/PVDF/CF/CNT and PET/PVDF/CF/CNT nanocomposites were investigated using SEM. The aggregation of CNT was observed in PMMA/PVDF/CF/CNT nanocomposites while the good dispersion of CNT was shown in PET/PVDF/CF/CNT nanocomposites. In SEM image of PET/PVDF/CF/CNT nanocomposite, the CNT were mainly located at the PET domain of phase-separated PET/PVDF blend due to the ${\pi}-{\pi}$ interaction between the phenyl ring of PET and graphite sheet of the CNT's surface. In addition, a fairly good compatibility between PET/PVDF matrix and CF was shown in the SEM image. In the case of PET/PVDF nanocomposites blended with the co-addition of CF and CNT, the volume electrical resistivity decreased while no change was observed in PMMA/PVDF/CF/CNT composites. The degree of CNT dispersion in morphology results was consistent with the electrical conductivity results. From the DSC results, the crystallization temperature (Tc) of PET/PVDF/CF/CNT nanocomposites increased due to the co-addition of CF and CNTs acting as a nucleating agent. Flexural modulus of PET/PVDF/CF/CNT were sharply enhanced due to increasing the interaction between PET and CF.