Electrical and mechanical properties of polyethylene/MWCNT composites produced by polymerization using Cp2ZrCl2 supported on MWCNTs

Abstract

Pristine multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/polyethylene (PE) composites produced by in situ polymerization using a metallocene (Cp2ZrCl2) immobilized onto MWCNT are used for measurement of electrical, thermo- and dynamic mechanical properties. As the content of MWCNT in the composites increased, electrical resistivity decreased and heat distortion temperature (HDT) and storage modulus increased due to well-dispersed CNT strands in the PE matrix. The lowest average electrical surface and volume resistivities were 1.0x10(10) Omega and 4.1x10(9) Omega center dot cm, respectively and this result was supported by electrostatic force microscopy (EFM). In practical point of view, decrease of electrical resistivity of the composites is highly important in fabrication of antistatic polyolefin products including PEs in this study.