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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter August 23, 2021

A simple and green approach to the preparation of super tough IIR/SWCNTs nanocomposites with tunable and strain responsive electrical conductivity

  • Xin Guo ORCID logo , Le Kang , Lishui Sun EMAIL logo , Li Liu EMAIL logo and Guangye Liu

Abstract

Nanocomposites of single-wall carbon nanotubes in isobutylene isoprene rubber (IIR/SWCNTs) were successfully prepared by a simple and green wet process. The traditional melt mixing process and organic solvent dissolution suffered from unable to effectively disperse the SWCNTs of tangled structure, and degradation of polymer molecules, respectively. Our process very well avoided these two problems. The SWCNTs aqueous solutions emulsified by polyoxyethylene octyl phenol ether (OP-10) were firstly mixed and compounded with IIR rubber at a relatively high temperature, followed by the second step of melt compounding process with the addition of cross-linking agent and accelerators. The SWCNTs were dispersed uniformly, and a fine network was constructed in the matrix of the obtained IIR/SWCNTs nanocomposite with a low percolation threshold. With the concentration of SWCNTs as low as 2 phr, the IIR/SWCNTs nanocomposite received an electrical conductivity of 10−6∼10−3 S/cm, and a 71% improvement of tensile strength. By varying the loadings of SWCNTs in a certain range, the tensile strength, electrical conductivity, and dielectric property were found tunable. Besides, the nanocomposites also presented strain responsive specific resistance, excellent elongation (600–740%), and better heat resistance.


Corresponding authors: Lishui Sun and Li Liu, Institute of High Performance Polymer, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China, E-mail: (L. Sun),

Funding source: National Natural Science Foundation of China doi.org/10.13039/501100001809

Award Identifier / Grant number: 51972185

  1. Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.

  2. Research funding: This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NFSC no. 51972185).

  3. Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.

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Received: 2021-04-07
Accepted: 2021-07-30
Published Online: 2021-08-23
Published in Print: 2021-10-26

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