Surface modification of carbon black for the reinforcement of polycarbonate/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene blends

The surface of carbon black was modified by oxygen plasma treatment for different times (10, 20 and 30 min). In order to increase the applicability of carbon black (CB), functional groups were grafted on the generally inert surface of CB using oxygen plasma. The surface compositional and structural changes that occurred on CB were investigated by SEM, FT-IR, Raman spectroscopy, XRD and BET. Subsequently, CB reinforced polycarbonate (PC)/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) composites were prepared by internal batch mixing with the addition of different content of CB (3, 6, 9, 12 wt%). The morphology of PC/ABS/CB (7/3/6 wt%) nanocomposites was studied through scanning electron microscopy. Observations of SEM images showed that the plasma-treated CB had a better dispersion in the blend matrix. Moreover, the mechanical tests showed that the tensile strength and impact strength were improved by 32.4% and 22.5%, respectively, with the addition of plasma-treated CB. In addition, the thermal stability was improved and glass transition temperatures of both PC and ABS increased as shown by TGA and DSC, respectively.