Dynamic mechanical and thermal analysis of aligned vapor grown carbon nanofiber reinforced polyethylene

Shuying Yang, Jaime Taha-Tijerina, Verónica Serrato-Diaz, Krystal Hernandez, Karen Lozano

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

138 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Dynamic mechanical and thermal analysis of aligned vapor grown carbon-nanofibers (VGCNFs)-reinforced high-density polyethylene (HDPE) was performed. High-shear mixing was used to disperse and distribute the nanofibers. Extensional flow was used to obtain anisotropic nanoreinforced composite tapes. Dynamic mechanical analysis showed dual increase of storage modulus and loss modulus with different draw ratios. The modulus and complex viscosities of the drawn samples converged to that of pure PE at high temperatures, indicating that in the melt, the behavior is dominated by the semicrystalline matrix. Additionally, an increase in thermal stability was observed for the composites compared to PE matrix. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis showed that the inclusion of nanofibers hindered the structure evolution of PE upon drawing.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)228-235
Number of pages8
JournalComposites Part B: Engineering
Volume38
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2007
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Financial support by National Science Foundation (NSF) under grant number CMS-0092621 is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would also like to thank Applied Sciences, Inc. and Chevron Philips Chemical™ for providing the nanofibers and PE respectively. We would like to thank Dr. Nandika D’Souza and Ajit Ranade for their assistance on DMA testing. Also, helpful comments and advice from Dr. Arturo Fuentes and Dr. Robert Jones are greatly appreciated.

Copyright:
Copyright 2008 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Ceramics and Composites
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

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