Incorporation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoplatelets on the morphology and properties of polyethylene terephthalate nanocomposites

In this work, the interaction effect between polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) at concentration of 0.1 wt% and 0.5 wt% was examined. The morphology and the properties of PET nanocomposites prepared through melt compounding and injection moulding method were investigated. The presence of MWCNTs and GNPs in the PET matrix was confirmed by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. In contrast, in PET nanocomposites, better dispersion distribution was observed in the 0.1 wt% PET-MWCNTs-GNPs nanocomposites compared to the 0.5 wt% PET-MWCNTs-GNPs nanocomposites resulting in fewer mechanical and physical failures like crack, delamination, and agglomeration. Furthermore, the incorporation of MWCNTs or GNPs into pure PET improved the thermal stability of the nanocomposites as the nanofillers acted as efficient heat sinks, preventing thermal degradation of PET. Additionally, this research demonstrated that PETMWCNTs- GNPs 0.1 wt% achieved a significant enhancement of up to 270% in Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) shielding compared to neat PET while also increasing electrical conductivity. In terms of mechanical testing, the PET nanocomposites with 0.1 wt% loading were analyzed and PET-MWCNTs-GNPs 0.1 wt% exhibit superior performance in tensile testing, impact testing, flexural testing as well as hardness testing, thus, make this composition emerged as the most promising choice with excellent microwave absorbance and remarkable strength simultaneously.

Text 118782.pdf Download (1MB) Official URL or Download Paper: http://ethesis.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/18411

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