Tuhin Ghosh1, Niranjan Karak2. 1. Advanced Polymer and Nanomaterial Laboratory, Department of Chemical Sciences, Tezpur University, Tezpur 784028, India. 2. Advanced Polymer and Nanomaterial Laboratory, Department of Chemical Sciences, Tezpur University, Tezpur 784028, India. Electronic address: karakniranjan@gmail.com.
Abstract
HYPOTHESIS: Fabrication of polymeric nanocomposites with suitable nanomaterial via an in-situ polymerization approach results in multifunctional advanced materials. EXPERIMENTS: The present work demonstrates the fabrication of interpenetrating polymer network (IPN)-based smart nanocomposites of polyurethane and polystyrene (PS) with different weight percentages of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT). The MWCNT was grafted with pre-polymer of PS. The grafted-MWCNT and the nanocomposites were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopic, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopic studies. Further, different properties of the nanocomposites were evaluated. FINDINGS: The fabricated nanocomposites showed excellent enhancement in mechanical (tensile strength: 175.9%; elongation at break: 161.9%; and toughness: 279.8%) and thermal (initial degradation temperature: 107.8%) properties compared to the pristine IPN. The improved properties are because of strong interfacial matrix-nanomaterial interactions. In addition, the nanocomposites demonstrated high water repellence (static contact angle varied from 127.9° to 143.6°), outstanding self-cleaning and anti-icing (freezing delay time of 1850-2700 s) behaviors. Most interestingly, the fabricated nanocomposites exhibited excellent self-healing ability under the exposure of microwave (within 46-22 s at 300 W power input) and sunlight (within 318-257 s, light intensity: 0.9-1.1 × 105 lux). Therefore, the studied nanocomposites hold significant potential to be used in the domains of advanced smart materials.
HYPOTHESIS: Fabrication of polymeric nanocomposites with suitable nanomaterial via an in-situ polymerization approach results in multifunctional advanced materials. EXPERIMENTS: The present work demonstrates the fabrication of interpenetrating polymer network (IPN)-based smart nanocomposites of polyurethane and polystyrene (PS) with different weight percentages of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT). The MWCNT was grafted with pre-polymer of PS. The grafted-MWCNT and the nanocomposites were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopic, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopic studies. Further, different properties of the nanocomposites were evaluated. FINDINGS: The fabricated nanocomposites showed excellent enhancement in mechanical (tensile strength: 175.9%; elongation at break: 161.9%; and toughness: 279.8%) and thermal (initial degradation temperature: 107.8%) properties compared to the pristine IPN. The improved properties are because of strong interfacial matrix-nanomaterial interactions. In addition, the nanocomposites demonstrated high water repellence (static contact angle varied from 127.9° to 143.6°), outstanding self-cleaning and anti-icing (freezing delay time of 1850-2700 s) behaviors. Most interestingly, the fabricated nanocomposites exhibited excellent self-healing ability under the exposure of microwave (within 46-22 s at 300 W power input) and sunlight (within 318-257 s, light intensity: 0.9-1.1 × 105 lux). Therefore, the studied nanocomposites hold significant potential to be used in the domains of advanced smart materials.