Enhancing the strength of polypropylene fibers with carbon nanotubes

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Abstract
Single‐walled carbon nanotubes were added to two different grades of polypropylene to produce composites. The composites were then melt‐spun into fibers, and the fibers were tested with both a conventional tensile pull tester and dynamic mechanical analysis. The changes in tensile properties were related to the grade of polypropylene used. In addition to fibers being made from the mixes, coarse extrudates (i.e., undrawn, gravity‐spun filaments) were also produced. Density measurements on these extrudates showed that the addition of nanotubes increased the composite density in a highly nonlinear manner, which suggested interaction between the polypropylene and the carbon nanotubes. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 93: 2926–2933, 2004