Synthesis and Mechanical Properties of Polybenzimidazole Nanocomposites Reinforced by Vapor Grown Carbon Nanofibers

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This is a preprint of an article published in Polymer Composites. 31(3):491-496 (2010) JOHN WILEY & SONS INC URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1548-0569Polybenzimidazole (PBI) nanocomposites containing 0.5-5 wt% vapor grown carbon nanofibers (VGNFs) were successfully synthesized by solvent evaporation method. Fracture morphology examination confirmed the uniform dispersion of VGNFs in the matrix. The mechanical properties of neat PBI and the nanocomposites were systematically measured by tensile test, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), hardness measurement, and friction test. Tensile tests revealed that Young's modulus increased by about 43.7% at 2 wt% VGNFs loading, and further modulus growth was observed at higher filler loadings. DMA studies showed that the nanocomposites have higher storage modulus than neat PBI in the temperature range of 30-350 degrees C, holding storage modulus larger than 1.54 GPa below 300 degrees C. Outstanding improvement of hardness was achieved for PBI upon incorporating 2 wt% of VGNFs. The results of friction test showed that coefficient of friction of PBI nanocomposites decreased with VGNFs content compared with neat PBI.