Coarse-grained molecular simulation of the effects of carbon nanotube dispersion on the mechanics of semicrystalline polymer nanocomposites
File(s)8-Nanotechnology.pdf (3.95 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Wu, Chao
Wu, Ruidong
Tam, Lik-ho
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
With the incorporation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), CNT/polypropylene (PP) nanocomposites are found to possess enhanced mechanical properties, but the reinforcing effect is reduced at large added CNT weight percentages due to CNT aggregation. Optimizing the properties of a nanocomposite requires a fundamental understanding of the effects of CNT dispersion on the nanocomposite. In this work, coarse-grained molecular models of CNT/PP nanocomposites are constructed, which consist of randomly dispersed or aggregated CNT bundles. Our simulation results reveal that with randomly dispersed CNT bundles, the nanocomposite shows properties that continuously improve with increasing CNT contents due to the effective CNT/PP interface and the reinforcing effect of CNTs. By comparison, the nanocomposite with aggregated CNT clusters exhibits a decline in yield strength at CNT contents over 3 wt%, which results from a reduced CNT load-carrying capacity due to the formation of structural voids in the interfacial region. This study achieves an in situ observation of the structural void evolution of loaded nanocomposites, provides valuable insights into the effects of CNT dispersion on the mechanics of CNT/PP nanocomposites, and paves the way for optimizing the design of nanocomposites with superior mechanical properties by designing the CNT dispersion in the structure.
Date Issued
2021-08-06
Date Acceptance
2021-04-01
Citation
Nanotechnology, 2021, 32 (32)
ISSN
0957-4484
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Journal / Book Title
Nanotechnology
Volume
32
Issue
32
Copyright Statement
© 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd. This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication/published in [insert name of journal]. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6528/abf458
Identifier
https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000655360600001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=a2bf6146997ec60c407a63945d4e92bb
Subjects
AGGLOMERATION
BEHAVIOR
BLENDS
BUCKYPAPER
carbon nanotube dispersion
CNT/POLYPROPYLENE COMPOSITES
FRACTURE
Materials Science
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
mechanical properties
MESOSCALE MECHANICS
molecular dynamics
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
NANOTUBE/POLYPROPYLENE COMPOSITES
Physical Sciences
Physics
Physics, Applied
polymer-matrix composites
Science & Technology
Science & Technology - Other Topics
STRENGTH
Technology
WAVINESS
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
325705
Date Publish Online
2021-05-24