Ultra-toughened nylon 12 nanocomposites reinforced with IF-WS2

作者：Xu Fang^*; Yan Chunze; Shyng Yat Tarng; Chang Hong; Xia Yongde; Zhu Yanqiu

来源：Nanotechnology, 2014, 25(32): 325701.

DOI：10.1088/0957-4484/25/32/325701

• nano composites
• polymer-matrix composites
• particle-reinforced composites
• mechanical properties

Inorganic fullerene-like WS2 nanoparticle-(IF-WS2) reinforced nylon 12 nanocomposites have been prepared through effective ultrasonic mixing without using any surfactant, followed by molding at 220 degrees C. Morphological characterizations using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) have revealed the excellent dispersion of IF-WS2 nanoparticles in the nylon 12 matrix. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses have confirmed that a phase transition from alpha%26apos;-phase to a more stable gamma-phase took place during the sintering of nylon 12, regardless of the amount of IF-WS2 added to the matrix. At a very low IF-WS2 content of 2 wt%, the tensile strength and bending strength of the composites increased slightly by 27% and 28%, respectively. However, the toughness dramatically improved by 185% and 148% at IF-WS2 additions of 0.25 and 0.5 wt%, respectively, when compared to the neat nylon 12. It is believed that such improvements should mainly be attributed to the well-dispersed IF-WS2 within the matrix. The vastly improved toughness suggests that the resulting polymer nanocomposites could be promising for structural and high-performance impact applications.

• 出版日期2014-8-15