APPLICATION OF CARBON NANOTUBES (CNTS) IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NANOCOMPOSITES BASED ON BIODEGRADABLE POLYMERS

SILVIA GOYANES, CELINA BERNAL, LUCÍA FAMÁ

Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Properties and Applications

Nova Sciences Publishers

Lugar: New York; Año: 2012; p. 157 - 184

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have received much attention in the scientific andtechnological community since their discovery in 1991, because of their unique physicalproperties. Because of these properties, they seem to be ideal reinforcement for different typesof polymers. In addition, the replacement of synthetic polymers by biodegradable polymers isalso of current extensive interest. Synthetic traditional polymers, come from oil, which price iscontinuously racing. Although these materials have some advantages such as long life, theirproduction involves high levels of CO2 and they take hundreds of years to degrade. Toovercome these disadvantages, many biodegradable polymers have been developed. Thecombination of CNTs and biodegradable polymers has been recognized as a very attractiveresearch topic. In this chapter, a review of the most relevant results reported in the openliterature about the use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as reinforcement in biodegradablepolymers is presented. In particular, the discussion is focused on those biodegradablepolymers most widely used in industry: starch, poly(lactic) acid (PLA), and poly(vinylalcohol) (PVA). Several functionalization methods (both covalent and non-covalent ones)resported in the literature for the preparation of carbon nanotubes are described. Differentprocessing techniques for the production of nanocomposites such as solution mixing, meltcasting, extrusion and electrospinning are also analyzed. In addition, recently reported resultsof rheological, mechanical and electrical properties of nanocomposites based onbiodegradable matrices reinforced with carbon nanotubes are summarized. Finally,technological limitations and research challenges in the development of these nanocompositesare presented.