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Crystallization behavior and enhanced toughness of poly(ethylene terephthalate) composite with noncovalent modified graphene functionalized by pyrene-terminated molecules: a comparative study

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Abstract

Noncovalent functionalization was used to modify the graphene nanosheets via π–π stacking of pyrene-terminated molecule (Py-LC), resulting in an intercalated layer structure incorporated with about 45 wt% of Py-LC. The organically modified graphene (Py-LC-rGO) has a better dispersion in the PET matrix compared with that without modification. Consequently, it remarkably accelerates the crystallization of PET. Moreover, the nucleation ability of Py-LC-rGO is even stronger than that of commercial nucleation agent, sodium benzoate, leading to a thicker lamellar crystals and denser stacking of lamellae. Accordingly, the impact toughness of such a composite is improved to be nine times as that of neat PET, which can be a promising candidate as nanofiller for PET.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21604073), Public Welfare Technology Application Research Project of Zhejiang Province (2017C31026), the Science Foundation of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University (ZSTU) under Grant No. 15012082-Y, Zhejiang Top Priority Discipline of Textile Science and Engineering (2014YBZX02), the Young Researchers Foundation of Key Laboratory of Advanced Textile Materials and Manufacturing Technology, Ministry of Education, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University (2016QN01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Engineering, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, 310018, People’s Republic of China

    Zaizai Tong, Wangqian Zhuo, Jie Zhou, Runsheng Huang & Guohua Jiang

  2. Key Laboratory of Advanced Textile Materials and Manufacturing Technology (ATMT), Ministry of Education, Hangzhou, 310018, People’s Republic of China

    Zaizai Tong & Guohua Jiang

  3. National Engineering Laboratory for Textile Fiber Materials and Processing Technology (Zhejiang), Hangzhou, 310018, People’s Republic of China

    Zaizai Tong & Guohua Jiang

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  1. Zaizai Tong
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Correspondence to Zaizai Tong or Guohua Jiang.

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Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material including DSC curves, UV–Vis spectra, synchrotron WAXS profile, and photograph of dispersion of graphene.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 651 kb)

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Tong, Z., Zhuo, W., Zhou, J. et al. Crystallization behavior and enhanced toughness of poly(ethylene terephthalate) composite with noncovalent modified graphene functionalized by pyrene-terminated molecules: a comparative study. J Mater Sci 52, 10567–10580 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-1173-8

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