Morphology and Thermal Properties of Thermosetting Polyurethane/Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Composites

The carboxylic acid functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were uniformly distributed in polyurethane (PU) matrix by covalent bonding between carboxyl, diisocyanate and trimethylol propane (TMP) groups to form urethane linkage. The TMP was used as a crosslinker to form three dimensional nanonetworks. The PU based nanocomposites exhibit open cell structure could be useful for synthetic leather. The peaks in the range of 2800-3059 cm(-1) (C-H), 3250-3400 cm(-1) (N-H) and, 1730 cm(-1) (C=O) were conform PU by FT-IR spectroscopy. The Raman spectra were investigated on polyurethane/SWCNTs to determine sp(2) carbon centres of disorder band (D-band) at 1313 cm(-1) and tangential band (G-band) at 1542 cm(-1). Loading of f-SWCNTs into polymer matrix, thermal stability drastically increased up to 466 degrees C. The mechanical properties of the composites facilitate to improve the tensile strength, Young's modulus and % elongation at break. These nanocomposites could be used for coating application.