Materials Technology for Heterogeneous Polymer Systems: Part VI. Enhanced Physical Properties of Polymer Blends by Control of Nanofiller Dispersion—2

Abstract

In the previous Part V, dispersion control methods for nanofillers in a polymer matrix were shown to efficiently enhance the thermal conductivity of insulating polymers through the use of highly functional carbon nanotubes (CNTs) added in small amounts. In this Part VI, we demonstrated the application of the CNT dispersion methods to polymer blends, including crosslinked polymer phases. Our focus was on enhancing the mechanical properties of dynamically crosslinked olefin thermoplastic elastomers based on polypropylene/ethylene-propylene-diene copolymer rubber (EPDM) blends incorporating MWCNTs selectively localized within the crosslinked EPDM phase. Furthermore, we discussed the improved mechanical properties of dismantlable epoxy-based adhesives containing expandable graphite and core-shell rubber, attributing these improvements to the spatial dispersibility of CNTs, which was influenced by both interfacial interactions between the CNTs and adhesive constituents, and the CNTs’ crystallinity.