Functionalization of carbon nanofibers with elastomeric block copolymer using carbodiimide chemistry

Surface functionalization of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) with aminopropyl terminated polydimethylsiloxane [(PDMS-NH2)] and other organic diamines was achieved using carbodiimide chemistry. The carbodiimide chemistry provides faster reaction rate so that the reaction occurs at lower temperature compared to amidation and acylation–amidation chemistry. CNF functionalized with PDMS-NH2 fibers were further functionalized with oligomer of polyimide (6FDA-BisP) using imidization reaction. The formation of block copolymer on the surface of CNF is proposed as an effective method to engineer the interphase between the fiber and the polymer, which is essential to modulate and enhance the properties of the nanocomposite. The efficiency of the carbodiimide chemistry to functionalize amine terminated groups on CNF and the functionalization of block copolymer was characterized using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV–vis spectroscopy.