- Author
- Kashiwagi, T. | Grulke, E. | Hilding, J. | Harris, R. H., Jr. | Awad, W. | Douglas, J. F.
- Title
- Thermal Degradation and Flammability Properties of Polypropylene-Carbon Nanotube Composites.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD University of Kentucky, Lexington
- Journal
- Macromolecular Rapid Communications, Vol. 23, No. 13, 761-765, 2002
- Keywords
- nanocomposites | thermal degradation | flammability | polypropylene | flame retardants
- Identifiers
- Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
- Abstract
- Nanocomposites based on polypropylene and carbon nanotubes (up to 2 vol.-%) were melt blended, yielding a good dispersion of nanotubes without using any organic treatment or additional additives. Carbon nanotubes are found to significantly enhance the thermal stability of polypropylene in nitrogen at high temperatures. Specifically, the nanotube additives greatly reduced the heat release rate of poly(propylene). They are found to be at least as effective a flame retardant as clay/poly(propylene) nanocomposites.