Thermal Properties of TiO ₂NP/CNT/LDPE Hybrid Nanocomposite Films

Abstract

This work aims to investigate the effect of hybrid filler concentration on the thermal stability of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) matrices. LDPE-based composite films were synthesized by melt mixing, followed by compression molding, to study the influence of titanium oxide nanoparticles (TONPs) and/or multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the thermal properties of LDPE matrices. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy confirmed the slight increase in the band intensities after TONP addition and a remarkable surge after the incorporation of CNTs. The value of crystallization temperature ( T _c) was not modified after incorporating TONPs, while an enhancement was observed after adding the hybrid fillers. The melting temperature ( T _m) was not changed after introducing the CNTs and CNT/TONP hybrid fillers. The percentage crystallinity ( X _c %) was increased by 4% and 6%, after incorporating 1 wt % and 3 wt % CNTs, respectively. The TONP incorporation did not modify the X _c %. Moreover, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) thermograms confirmed the increased thermal stability after introducing CNTs and hybrid fillers compared to TONP incorporation.