Morphology and Electrical Conductivity of Compatibilized Thermoplastic Polyurethane/single-walled Carbon Nanotube Composites

Compatibilized thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and single-walled nanotubes have been prepared using maleic anhydride as compatibilizer in a melt twin-screw extruder at 170 deg C with 10 min. The dispersion of carbon nanotube on the polymer matrix was characterized by Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the interaction of carbon nanotubes with the polymer matrix was revealed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Confocal Raman spectroscopy. It has been found that the formation of chemical bonding during melt blending may has enhanced the interaction. This compatibilized polymer blends exhibits better thermal stability owing to barrier effect of SWCNTs, revealed by Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) results. These results indicate that presence of CNTs on the polymer matrix having an impact on the crystalline nature of polyurethane and subsequently affected the endothermic behaviours of the blends. The electrical conductivity of compatiblized blends was measured and it was observed that the level of conductivity was increased with respect to concentrations of SWCNTs on the polymer matrix.