Journal
CARBON
Volume 74, Issue -, Pages 14-21Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbon.2014.02.074
Keywords
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Funding
- Ministry of University and Research in Italy (MIUR) [RBFR10DCS7]
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alpha-Tocopherol, a natural antioxidant molecule, was physically immobilized on the outer surface of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and the resulting functionalised particles (f-CNTs) were dispersed in ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene aiming at improving its thermo-oxidation resistance. The success of the functionalization was assessed through spectroscopic and thermal analysis, and the influence of the filler on the thermo-oxidative stability of the nanocomposites was investigated through rheological analyses and infrared spectroscopy. We found that the addition of only 1 wt.% of f-CNTs brings about a surprisingly high oxidation resistance, with a five/ten-fold increase of the induction time of the degradation phenomena. Rather than to the inherent stabilizing action of the a-tocopherol, such a notable result is believed to be due to its specific chemical interactions with the CNTs, which could exhibit a considerable radical scavenging activity due to the formation of structural defects on their outer surface. The latter represent acceptor-like localized states, which radically improve the thermo-oxidative resistance of the f-CNTs-based polymer nanocomposites. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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