Study on Rheological Behavious of Carbon Based Thermoplastic Polyurethane Nanocomposite

In the present study, nanocomposites of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with varying nano content (ranging from ۰ wt% to ۱ wt%) were prepared via melt compounding method and the effect of the MWCNTs content on rheological properties was studied using a rheometrics mechanical spectrometer (RMS). The frequency sweep analysis confirmed that with the presence of ۰.۴% MWCNTs, a second crossover appeared which shifted to higher frequencies with further increase of nano content. storage modulus variations versus nanoparticle content corroborated that in a nano content of ۰.۴%, a sharp increase in storage modulus occurred and this nano content was considered as a percolation threshold. Avrami equation based on the time sweep analysis corroborated that increase in nano content substantially promoted the phase separation kinetics.