THE INFLUENCE OF MULTI-WALLED CARBON NANOTUBES ON THE NUCLEATION, CRYSTALLIZATION AND TENSILE PROPERTIES OF PA-6/MWCNT COMPOSITES
SWAMINI CHOPRA *
Research Scholar, Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, V.N.I.T., Nagpur, India.
KAVITA DESHMUKH
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, V.N.I.T., Nagpur, India.
ABHAY DESHMUKH
Department of Physics, RTM Nagpur University, Nagpur, India.
C. L. GOGTE
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Maharashtra Institute of Technology, Aurangabad, India.
DILIP PESHWE
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, V.N.I.T., Nagpur, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Polymer composites are rapidly replacing conventional materials in automobiles and aircrafts, with an aim of achieving light-weight and improved performance. Parts made from PA-6 are extensively used in sliding components of fuel tank, door assemblies, structural and load bearing parts such as gears, bearings, dampers, etc. Therefore, superior mechanical properties are expected from them with an ease in fabrication. In light of this, present study deals with fabrication and testing of PA-6/MWCNT composites with CNT concentration varying from 0.1-0.5 weight percentage. The effect of such low CNT additions on structural, thermal and mechanical behavior of PA-6 is studied. SEM of composites shows multiple CNT-coral like structures evenly dispersed throughout the matrix. XRD and DSC data conforms that there is an increase in crystallinity and nucleation efficiency along with a decrease in crystallite size on CNT addition. This indicates the fact that tensile strength of PA-6 improves even with small amounts of CNTs, which has been proven by tensile testing also. Thus, from processing point-of-view, this study demonstrates that even small amounts of CNT additions in PA-6 can improve its processability by increasing rate of production.
Keywords: CNT-coral like structures, nucleating efficiency, crystallization, tensile strength