Buckypapers of 4,4′-oxydianiline-modified polyvinylchloride and functional nano-filler obtained by resin infusion method

This study provides information on the fabrication and characterization of polyvinylchloride (PVC) buckypaper composite using resin infusion method. PVC modified with 4,4'-oxydianiline (ODA) was infiltrated through buckypapers made of purified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (P-MWCNTs) and functionalized MWCNTs (F-MWCNTs). The increases in P-MWCNT and F-MWCNT contents were investigated on the physical properties of BP-PVC-ODA/PEG (polyethylene glycol)/P-MWCNT and BP-PVC-ODA/PEG/F-MWCNT buckypaper composites. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used for the functional group confirmation which proved the PVC modification and functionality of MWCNTs. The scanning electron micrographs of BP-PVC-ODA/PEG/FMWCNT showed that intercalation of cross-linked polymer with nanotube produced a polymer-coated F-MWCNT mesh. The maximum degradation temperature (T-max) of functional composite BP-PVC-ODA/PEG/F-MWCNT 0.05 (484 degrees C) was higher than that of non-functional BP-PVCODA/PEG/P-MWCNT 0.05 (473 degrees C). The glass transition temperature (Tg) of BP-PVC-ODA/PEG/F-MWCNT 0.05 was 225 degrees C, while BP-PVC-ODA/PEG/F-MWCNT 0.03 yielded a lower Tg of 214 C. Tensile strength of the functional buckypaper was also found to increase to 37.3 MPa with filler loading. According to X-ray diffraction, the amorphous character of buckypaper showed a trend towards crystal formation with filler loading. P-MWCNTbased buckypaper showed an electrical conductivity up to 4.12 x 10(-1) S/cm; lower than the electrical conductivity of functional buckypaper (1.98 S/cm). The results demonstrated that the resin infusion technique was a successful method to achieve high performance buckypapers compared with F-MWCNTs.