Mechanical and Thermal Behaviors of Polypropylene - Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposite Monofilaments

In this work, multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNTs) reinforced polypropylene (PP) monofilaments were prepared by the melt extrusion method. The effect of MWCNTs on the mechanical behaviour of nanocomposite monofilaments was studied by tensile testing and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) to understand the mechanism in both the elastic and plastic regions. The results obtained from tensile tests showed that incorporating MWCNTs reduced the tensile strength but increased the Young Modulus of the PP. The Young modulus of the nanocomposite was greatly enhanced to 4587 MPa, compared to 3987 MPa for pristine PP. DMA results are compatible with tensile test results. Thermal analysis showed that the crystallization temperature (Tp), melting temperature (Tm) and degradation temperatures(Td) are increased by about 15, 2.5, and 8 ^°C, respectively, with the addition of MWCNTs. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations of the cross section of the nanocomposite monofilaments showed good dispersion of the MWCNTs in the PP matrix.