title: Polyethylene crystallization nucleated by carbon nanotubes under shear.
abstract: Polyethylene crystallization under shear has been studied in the presence of single-wall, few-wall, and multiwall carbon nanotubes (SWNT, FWNT, and MWNT). Polyethylene crystal d-spacings for (110) and (200) planes in polyethylene/carbon nanotubes (CNT) are smaller than in the control polyethylene without CNT and the polymer chain is oriented along the CNT axis. The single-wall carbon nanotube templated polyethylene crystals do not redissolve in boiling xylenes; instead, the chain morphology transforms to an amorphous conformation but remains oriented along the nanotube axis. SWNT crystal peaks were also observed in polyethylene/SWNT fibers.
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 801 Ferst Drive NW, MRDC-1, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0295, USA. m.minus@neu.edu
authors.forename: Marilyn L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Minus
authors.forename: Han Gi
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Chae
authors.forename: Satish
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar