Influence of CNT pre-dispersion into PHBV/CNT nanocomposites and evaluation of morphological, mechanical and crystallographic features

In this work, a new strategy of carbon nanotubes (CNT) pre-dispersion (PD) in acetone to produce poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV)/CNT nanocomposites was evaluated. PHBV/CNT nanocomposites were produced in the molten state with the addition of 0.5 wt% of CNT and evaluated by scanning electron microscopy with field emission gun (FEG-SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Izod impact tests, nanohardness, and x-ray diffraction (XRD). FEG-SEM showed well-dispersed CNT for sample subjected to pre-dispersion (PHBV/CNT-PD), and DSC showed a reduction in the degree of crystallinity from 62% to neat PHBV to 55% for PHBV/CNT-PD. Impact resistance was positively affected by the pre-dispersion, and nanohardness showed more homogeneous values for PHBV/CNT-PD sample compared to PHBV/CNT(without pre-dispersion). XRD proved that hot pressing affects plans orientation, and so does the addition of CNT into PHBV. The CNT dispersion into PHBV analyzed by the ratio between planes area showed that PHBV/CNT-PD sample had homogeneously dispersed CNT. (AU)