Abstract
The microstructure of a thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer (TLCP, Vectran V400 P) was investigated in the presence of vapor-grown carbon nanofibers. Percolation threshold was observed at ∼5 wt% carbon nanofibers. During processing, strong flows resulted in severe anisotropy of the semirigid rod-like TLCP molecules. For a given type of flow, however, the nanofibers were found to reduce the overall anisotropy of the TLCP nematic phase in the nanocomposite. We believe that nanofibers provide surface anchoring for the nematic phase that helps disrupt the high degree of molecular order in the TLCP matrix and reduces its anisotropy in the nanocomposite.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2663-2667 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Polymer |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 24 2005 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
This work was primarily supported by the Engineering Research Center Program of the National Science Foundation under Award EEC-9731680. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation. One of the authors (M. S. Kim) acknowledges Myongji University for the support during his sabbatical at Clemson University. The TLCP material was provided by Ticona, the technical polymers business of Celanese A. G.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Science Foundation | EEC-9731680 |
Keywords
- Carbon nanofibers
- Thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers
- X-ray diffraction