Nanocomposites of poly(ether ether ketone) with carbon nanofibers: Effects of dispersion and thermo-oxidative degradation on development of linear viscoelasticity and crystallinity

Poly(ether ether ketone), PEEK, is a widely used engineering plastic that is especially suitable for high temperature applications. Compounding of PEEK with carbon nanofibers, CNF, has the potential of enhancing its mechanical and thermal properties further, even at relatively low CNF concentrations...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Polymer (Guilford) Vol. 51; no. 22; pp. 5236 - 5244
Main Authors:	Modi, Shriraj H., Dikovics, Kimberly B., Gevgilili, Halil, Mago, Gaurav, Bartolucci, Stephen F., Fisher, Frank T., Kalyon, Dilhan M.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 15-10-2010 Elsevier
Subjects:	Applied sciences Carbon fibers Carbon nanofibers Composites Crosslinking Dispersions Ethers Exact sciences and technology Forms of application and semi-finished materials Melts Nanocomposites Nanofibers PEEK Polyetheretherketones Polymer industry, paints, wood Technology of polymers Nanocomposites Carbon nanofibers PEEK Viscoelasticity Mixing Molten state Crystallization Aromatic polymer Thermooxidative degradation Polyetheretherketone Crystallinity Experimental study Solid state Non isothermal condition Concentration effect Time curve Nanocomposite Manufacturing Growth from melt Comparative study Growth from solution Carbon fiber
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Summary:	Poly(ether ether ketone), PEEK, is a widely used engineering plastic that is especially suitable for high temperature applications. Compounding of PEEK with carbon nanofibers, CNF, has the potential of enhancing its mechanical and thermal properties further, even at relatively low CNF concentrations. However, such enhancements can be compromised by myriad factors, some of which are elucidated in this study. Considering that the dispersion of the CNF into any high molecular weight polymer is a challenge, two different processing methods, i.e., melt and solution processing were used to prepare PEEK nanocomposites with low aspect ratio carbon nanofibers. The linear viscoelastic material functions of PEEK nanocomposites in the solid and molten states were characterized as indirect indicators of the dispersion state of the nanofibers and suggested that the dispersion of nanofibers into PEEK becomes difficult at increasing CNF concentrations for both solution and melt processing methods. Furthermore, the time-dependence of the linear viscoelastic material functions of the PEEK/CNF nanocomposites at 360–400 °C indicated that PEEK undergoes thermo-oxidative cross-linking under typical melt processing conditions, thus preventing better dispersion by progressive increases of the mixing time and specific energy input during melt processing. The crystallization behavior of PEEK is also affected by the presence of CNF and degree of cross-linking, with the rate of crystallization decreasing with increasing degree of cross-linking and upon the incorporation of CNFs both for the solution and melt processed PEEK nanocomposites. [Display omitted]
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23
ISSN:	0032-3861 1873-2291
DOI:	10.1016/j.polymer.2010.08.060