Preparation of core–shell carbon black nanoparticles and their crystallization-induced orientation

Core–shell carbon black nanoparticles were prepared by surface-initiated ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone. 1H NMR, 13C NMR, FT-IR, TGA, AFM, TEM and dynamic light scattering were used to characterize the core–shell carbon black nanoparticles (CB-g-PCL). TEM and AFM measurements showed that CB-g-PCL formed the core–shell structure with carbon black as the “core” and the PCL layer as the “shell”. TEM study also indicated that the core–shell carbon black nanoparticles could be homogeneously oriented in the PCL continuous phase under certain crystallization condition.