Preparation of fullerene-containing nanocomposite materials based on high-density polyethylene via environmental crazing and their performance

This work offers a new concept relying on the Rehbinder effect in polymers for the preparation of fullerenecontaining nanocomposite materials with added functionality. Tensile drawing of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) films in the solutions of 1,2-dichlorobenzene containing C-60-C-70 fullerenes (FL) proceeds via the environmental crazing according in the presence of surface active liquids (the Rehbinder effect). Environmental crazing provides the development of a highly developed surface and a mesoporous structure with a uniform distribution of monomeric FL within the HDPE matrix. The content of FL in the FL/HDPE nanocomposite materials can be varied from 1 to 8 wt%. Performance of the FL/HDPE nanocomposite materials (optical properties, thermal stability, mechanical characteristics) was studied by different physicochemical methods (TGA, UVspectroscopy, tensile tests, etc.). Introduction of FL to HDPE is shown to increase the temperature of thermal degradation onset of HDPE by 30 C-degrees. Rolling as the additional stage off post-treatment allows preparation of the FL/HDPE nanocomposite materials with high mechanical properties. This process can be upscaled using the existing technological equipment for the orientational drawing of polymers. The FL/HDPE nanocomposites with improved thermal resistance and good mechanical properties can be used as innovative optoelectronic materials within a broad temperature interval.