WS₂ Nanotubes as a 1D Functional Filler for Melt Mixing with Poly(lactic acid):Implications for Composites Manufacture
Abstract
Multi-walled WS₂ nanotubes (NTs) with lengths ranging from 2 to 65 μm and widths from 50 to 110 nm were synthesized in a horizontal quartz-made reactor by a process yielding NTs with aspect ratios (ARs) between ∼40 and >1000. The NTs obtained were thermally stable in air up to 400 °C but were oxidized within the temperature range 400–550 °C to produce yellow WO₃ particles. Critically, 400 °C is well above the temperature used to mix additives with the majority of melt-processable polymers. The hydrophilic WS₂ NTs were easily dispersed in poly(lactic) acid (PLA) using a twin-screw extruder, but the shear stresses applied during melt mixing resulted in chopping of the NTs such that the AR decreased by >95% and the tensile mechanical properties of the PLA were unchanged. Although the as-extruded unfilled PLA was >99% amorphous, the much-shortened WS₂ NTs had a significant effect on the crystallization behavior of PLA, inducing heterogeneous nucleation, increasing the crystallization temperature (T꜀) by ∼3 °C and the crystalline content by 15%, and significantly increasing the rate of PLA crystallization, producing smaller and more densely packed spherulites. The reduction in the AR and the nucleating effect of WS₂ NTs for PLA are critical considerations in the preparation, by melt mixing, of composites of rigid 1D NTs and polymers, irrespective of the target application, including bone tissue engineering and bioresorbable vascular scaffolds.
Additional Information
© 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Received: February 1, 2022; Accepted: April 20, 2022; Published: May 3, 2022. The authors thank WMG, University of Warwick, the "Weizmann UK─Making Connections" program, the Israel Science Foundation (no. 330/16), and the PAZY Israeli Foundation for funding this work. T.D.L. thanks Steven Weigand of the 5ID-D beamline at the APS for support during the synchrotron experiments. The authors declare no competing financial interest.Attached Files
Published - acsanm.2c00489.pdf
Supplemental Material - an2c00489_si_001.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 114838
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20220520-388233000
- University of Warwick
- Weizmann UK
- Israel Science Foundation
- 330/16
- PAZY Foundation
- Created
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2022-05-20Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2022-06-17Created from EPrint's last_modified field