Morphology and electrical conductivity of poly(propylene)/multi-walled carbon nanotubes nanocomposites foams compatibilized by poly(propylene) -graft-maleic anhydride (PP-g-MA)

The agglomerate of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in poly(propylene) (PP) matrix often results in low electrical conductivity and poor mechanical properties. In order to improve the dispersion of CNTs, different amounts of compatibilizer based on poly(propylene-graft-maleic anhydride) (PP-g-MA) were added in the PP matrix. Carbon nanotubes materbatches pre-dispersed at a high loading in the compatibilizer were used to create the samples used in this study. The nanocomposites of PP/PP-g-MA/CNTs were then foamed in supercritical carbon diozide (scCO2) followed by analysis of the foam morphology and the electrical conductivity. The presence of PPgMA did not significantly change the foam morphology, which exhibits good homogeneity and highly uniform closed-cells with penta-heptagonal cell-form. The expansion volume of the foams is not adversely affected by the addition of the compatibilizer; very high expansion volume (around 15 - 25 times) was achieved. The most interesting point is that the PP-PPgMA - 4wt%CNTs foams show a significantly higher electrical conductivity than the uncompatibilized PP-4wt%CNTs at the same volume percent content of CNTs