Impacts of Modified Graphite Oxide on Crystallization, Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Polybutylene Terephthalate

In this study, the surface modification on graphene oxide (GO) was performed using octadecylamine (ODA). Furthermore, polybutylene terephthalate/GO (PBT/GO) composites were prepared to elucidate the role of GO surface modification on the mechanical performance, thermal stability and crystallization behavior. Results of Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), Raman spectrum, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) revealed that ODA was successfully grafted on GO. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), tensile test, Izod impact strength test and TGA were carried out on the PBT/GO composites. Results indicated that the addition of raw GO can enhance the crystallization temperature and degree of crystallinity and can slightly improve the thermal stability and tensile strength of the composites. However, the impact strength and elongation at break were seriously decreased owing to the poor compatibility between the GO and PBT matrix. Once the modified GO was added, the crystallization temperature and degree of crystallinity were greatly increased. The tensile strength increased greatly while the elongation at break and Izod impact strength were efficiently maintained; these were evidently higher than those of PBT/raw GO. Moreover, thermal stability was greatly enhanced. SEM (scanning electron microscope) observation results on the impact-fractured surface clearly confirmed the improved compatibility between the modified GO and PBT matrix. A related mechanism had been discussed.

Influences of Hyperbranched Polyester Modification on the Crystallization Kinetics of Isotactic Polypropylene/Graphene Oxide Composites

In this study, the hyperbranched polyester grafted graphene oxide (GO-H202) was synthesized, and the isotactic polypropylene/graphene oxide (iPP/GO) composites were prepared. Results of X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed the successful synthesis of GO-H202, while thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) indicated that the weight ratio of grafting was about 35 wt %. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized optical microscopy (POM) were carried out to investigate the role of GO and GO-H202 on the crystallization kinetics of the composites. Results suggested that the addition of GO enhanced the nucleation rate and crystallizability of the composites, while GO-H202 exhibited a higher crystallization acceleration effect compared to neat GO; results of isothermal crystallization kinetics and self-nucleation isothermal crystallization kinetics showed that both the overall crystallization rate and crystal growth rate increase after the addition of GO and GO-H202, and the crystallization acceleration of GO-H202 became evidently stronger compared to GO. Moreover, the variation trends of Avrami exponent n with the isothermal crystallization temperature TcISO changed significantly after the addition of GO or GO-H202, which might imply that the addition of GO and GO-H202 lead to different crystallization dimensionalities during the isothermal crystallization of the composites. The related mechanism was also discussed.

Exploring the Effects of Stereo-Defect Distribution on Nonisothermal Crystallization and Melting Behavior of β-Nucleated Isotactic Polypropylene/Graphene Oxide Composites

In this work, using two isotactic polypropylene (iPP) resins with similar average isotacticity and molecular weight but different uniformities of stereo-defect distribution, the β-nucleated iPP/graphene oxide (β-iPP/GO) composites (NPP-A and NPP-B) were prepared to investigate the effect of stereo-defect distribution on the nonisothermal crystallization kinetics and polymorphic melting behavior of the composites by means of scanning electron microscopy, wide-angle X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry. The results showed that more uniform stereo-defect distribution led to a slight increase of the crystallization rate and decrease of the crystallization activation energy E c. NPP-B with more uniform stereo-defect was more favorable for the formation of a large amount of β-phase. Moreover, the role of the cooling rate was also discussed and it was found that the higher the cooling rate, the higher the β-phase content and the smaller the crystalline sizes, meanwhile, the higher the amount of β-phase with relatively lower thermal stability that will take part in β-α recrystallization during the subsequent melting process. For β-iPP/GO composites, although the cooling rate greatly influences the polymorphic behavior and crystalline structures of the composites, the uniformity of stereo-defect distribution was found to be the first factor determining the formation of the β-phase.