Enhancing crystallization and mechanical properties of PET polyester using functionalized carbon nanotubes

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Chemistry
• Electrochemistry

Background:

• Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) composites often require nucleating agents to optimize mechanical and crystallization properties.
• Traditional methods for preparing functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be time-consuming and may damage the CNT structure.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an efficient and rapid method for synthesizing CNT-APTES nucleating agents.
• To investigate the synergistic effects of electrochemical peeling and APTES silanization on CNTs.
• To evaluate the performance of the synthesized CNT-APTES as a nucleating agent in PET composites.

Main Methods:

• An innovative synergistic strategy involving electrochemical peeling and APTES silanization was employed to prepare CNT-APTES.
• The electrochemical process selectively removed the outer wall of CNTs, preserving the sp² carbon skeleton.
• The synthesized CNT-APTES was incorporated into PET composites at a specific concentration (0.6 wt%).

Main Results:

• The synthesis reaction time was reduced by 72% compared to traditional methods.
• PET composites with 0.6 wt% CNT-APTES exhibited a 48.3% increase in tensile strength (from 53.13 MPa to 86.3 MPa).
• Crystallization half-life was shortened by 38.8%, with elongation at break maintained at 1680%.

Conclusions:

• The CNTs-APTES synthesized via the synergistic strategy effectively act as a nucleating agent for PET.
• This method achieves a synergistic optimization of crystallization performance and mechanical properties in PET composites.
• The approach offers an efficient route to functionalized CNTs for advanced composite materials.