Mechanical Properties of Polylactide Admixed with Carbon Nanotubes or Graphene Nanopowder

Piotr Szatkowski; Leszek Czechowski; Jacek Gralewski; Martyna Szatkowska

doi:10.3390/ma14205955

Mechanical Properties of Polylactide Admixed with Carbon Nanotubes or Graphene Nanopowder

Materials (Basel). 2021 Oct 11;14(20):5955. doi: 10.3390/ma14205955.

Authors

Piotr Szatkowski¹, Leszek Czechowski², Jacek Gralewski³, Martyna Szatkowska¹

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics, University of Science and Technology, 30-059 Krakow, Poland.
² Department of Strength of Materials, Lodz University of Technology, 90-924 Lodz, Poland.
³ Institute of Social Sciences and Management of Technologies, Lodz University of Technology, 90-924 Lodz, Poland.

Abstract

The aim of this work was to verify the material properties of polylactic acid (PLA) with an addition of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) or graphene nanopowder (GNP). The pure polylactide and admixed polylactide samples were subjected to chemical-physical tests to determine their stiffness and strength parameters. The tensile and impact tests were performed on samples without UV (ultraviolet) treatment and after UV treatment, in a physiological saline solution. The investigations were composed of two stages. The first one was related to the examination of the properties of pure polylactide, denoted as the following: 3001D, 4032D, and 4043D. The second stage was based on an analysis of the properties of PLA 4032D with an admixture of GNP or CNTs, at 0.1 wt.% and 0.5 wt.%. By comparing the strength and the stiffness of pure samples with samples with the considered admixtures, an essential increase was not observed. However, it is stated that the presence of GNP and CNTs in the samples positively influenced the resistance of the materials to the ageing process.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes; grapheme nanopowder; mechanical properties; polylactic acid.