Morphology, rheology and electrical resistivity of PLLA/HDPE/CNT nanocomposites: Effect of maleic anhydride

As a part of serial work about tuning the selective location of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in immiscible polymer blends, this work reports the effects of component polarity and viscosity ratio between components on the selective location of CNTs and the resultant electrical resistivity of the nanocomposites. To achieve the research aim, maleic anhydride (MA) was grafted onto poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) main chain through a reactive compounding processing. After that, different contents of CNTs were incorporated into blends of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and PLLA (or PLLA-g-MA). The morphologies of the ternary nanocomposites and the selective location of CNTs in the nanocomposites were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The microstructure of nanocomposites and the dispersion of CNTs were further proved by rheological measurement. Finally, the electrical resistivity of nanocomposites containing different CNT contents was measured. The results showed that through increasing the polarity of PLLA and decreasing the melt viscosity, CNTs were kinetically trapped at the blend interface region. Consequently, largely decreased percolation threshold was achieved for the PLLA-g-MA/HDPE/CNT nanocomposites. The morphological changes as well as the rheological properties were also comparatively analyzed.