Effect of chemical functionalization of multi-walled carbon nanotubes with 4´-Allyloxy-biphenyl-4-ol on thermal and mechanical properties of organosilicon nanocomposites

In order to improve mechanical and thermal properties of electronic packaging materials, 4´-Allyloxy-biphenyl-4-ol (AOBPO) functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotube (A-MWCNTs) was used as fillers to mix with silicon resin to fabricate nanocomposites. The AOBPO greatly improved the dispersion of pristine MWCNTs in silicon resin by the π - π interactions. The microstructure of the composite was examined by scanning electron microscopy. The mechanical and thermal properties of the composite were characterized by tensile testing and thermogravimetric analysis. The study on the structure of the composite shows that carbon nanotubes can be dispersed in the polymer matrix well apart from a few of clusters. The results from thermal analysis indicate that the thermal stability of the composites can be obviously improved, in comparison with pure silicon resin. The investigation on the mechanical properties shows that the modulus and tensile strength can be obviously increased by adding A-MWCNTs (0.1wt% CNT/0.1wt% AOBPO) to the matrix.