High-Performance Sodium Polyacrylate Nanocomposites Developed By Using Ionic Liquid Covalently Modified Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

Ionic liquids grafted with multiwalled-nanotubes (CNT-Br/NTf2), involving hydrophilic bromide salt and hydrophobic bis(trifluoromethanesulphonyl)imide salt, were prepared by amidation, followed by an easy solution-casting method of blending CNT-Br/NTf2 with sodium polyacrylate (PAA) as well as crosslinking agent (XR-100) to form PAA hybrid nanocomposites. The uniform dispersion of CNT-Br/NTf2 were analyzed by TEM. The defects and physical properties of fillers were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, Contact angle test, and TGA. Furthermore, microstructures of hybrid nanocomposites were characterized by SEM, from which it can be found that fillers were homogeneously distributed in the PAA matrix. CNT-Br/NTf2 significantly improved the mechanical properties and tensile fatigue resistance, as well as offered tunable swelling behavior of PAA nanocomposites without wasting too much of thermal stability. This study offers a simple approach to develop multifunctional materials based on ionic liquids covalently modified MWCNTs PAA nanocomposites.