Phthalonitrile end-capped polyarylene ether nitrile nanocomposites with Cu2+ bridged carbon nanotube and graphene oxide network

Phthalonitrile end-capped polyarylene ether nitrile (PEN-Ph) nanocomposites with Cu2+ bridged carbon nanotube and graphene oxide (GO) network (CNT/GO) were successfully prepared. The GO sheets were isolated and bridged by CNTs through copper ion coordination, resulting in strong synergetic enhancement on the properties of the PEN-Ph based nanocomposites. The influences of the CNT/GO content and the post-crosslinking reaction on the mechanical, thermal and electrical properties were investigated. With the incorporation of CNT/GO, the mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of the nanocomposites were enhanced efficiently. After being crosslinked at 290 °C, the performances of the obtained nanocomposites were further improved. For the sample with 1.50 wt% CNT/GO crosslinked at 290 °C, the glass transition temperature, tensile strength and dielectric constant increased by about 40 °C, 10 MPa and 80 compared with the sample without crosslinking. The PEN-Ph based nanocomposites will be a potential candidate as high performance electronic devices materials.