Effects of Strain-Induced Crystallization on Mechanical Properties of Elastomeric Composites Containing Carbon Nanotubes and Carbon Black

The effects of strain-induced crystallization (SIC) on the mechanical properties of elastomeric composites as functions of extension ratio (λ), multi walled carbon nanotube (CNT) content, and carbon black (CB) content are investigated. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis shows that the degree of crystallinity increases with the increase in the CB and CNT content. As λ increases, the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the composites increases, and the latent heat of crystallization (LHc) of the composites is maximum at λ=1.5. It is found that the mechanical properties have a linear relation with LHc, depending on the CNT content. According to the TGA (thermogravimetric analysis), the weight loss of the composite matrix is 94.3% and the weight of the composites decreases with the filler content. The ratio of tensile modulus (Ecomp/ Ematrix) is higher than that of tensile strength (σcomp/ σmatrix) because of the CNT orientation inside the elastomeric composites