Novel approach of antistatic PET/nano-TiO2 composites via marangoni effect

To meet the industry's evolving demands, it is essential to develop composite surfaces with antistatic properties, reduce production costs, and maintain the integrity of the matrix material. We present an innovative and straightforward method for creating antistatic PET films via the floating interfacial assembly technique. By utilizing high-aspect-ratio, conductive TiO2, which boasts excellent whiteness as the nanofiller, we leverage marangoni flow-driven by surface tension gradients-to facilitate the self-assembly of TiO2 at the interface. We explored the underlying mechanism through a suite of analytical techniques and compared the properties of the resulting composites with those fabricated using traditional melt blending and surface scraping methods. Our findings indicated that a fully conductive TiO2@SEBS coating can be realized with just 10 wt% of conductive TiO2. At this loading, the conductive TiO2 forms a dense, uniform layer on the surface of the nanocomposite, ensuring cohesive aggregation. Remarkably, even though the conductive layer is microns thin, the surface resistance of the modified PET film is significantly reduced to 106 Omega/sq. Thus, this approach not only decreases the amount of conductive TiO2 used but also preserves the inherent properties of the substrate. This research expands the possible uses of PET and shows great potential in antistatic packaging, representing a notable advancement in materials science.