Effect of organization of semi-flexible polymers on mechanical properties of its composite with single wall carbon nanotubes

Researchers have used molecular simulations to determine the mechanical properties of single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT)-polymer nanocomposite but have not looked into composite of semi-flexible polymers. We have explored the effect of the organizations of semi-flexible polymer on mechanical properties such as elastic modulus and yield stress of the polymer-SWCNT composite. The proportions of locally ordered organization of polymer chains in a sample depend on its flexibility. For a fixed flexibility of a polymer chain, the presence of SWCNTs improves the proportion of regularly arranged polymers present in the composite. In turn, this improves the elastic modulus and yield stress of the polymer of higher rigidity. The enhancement in elastic modulus and yield stress is due to the retarded deformation of densely packed, ordered region of polymer chains in polymer/SWCNT composite. The presence of randomly oriented chains in a polymer sample containing regularly arranged polymer leads to the higher strain at yield point. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.