Pristine multiwalled carbon nanotube/polyethylene nanocomposites by immobilized catalysts

In this work, we achieved the production of pristine multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/polyethylene (PE) composites composed of uniformly dispersed, PE-coated MWCNT strands, by the in situ polymerization of ethylene with Cp ₂ZrCl₂ immobilized onto the sidewalls of pristine MWCNTs as a catalyst. The prepared composites showed a highly increased Young's modulus (359%) as compared to homopolyethylene, due to well-dispersed pristine MWCNTs in the PE matrices. Electronic interactions and binding modes between zirconocenes and CNTs were investigated by theoretical and experimental methods, and both methods indicated that the sidewalls of CNTs could form a coordination bond with the positively charged active species and act as a ligand with strong electron donation.