Regular Article

Thermal stability and structural study of the poly(3-hexyl thiophene)/HiPCO single walled carbon nanotubes (P3HT/SWCNT) nanocomposites^*

¹ Faculty of Sciences, Dhar El Mahraz, University Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah, Laboratory of Solid State Physics, Group Polymers and Nanomaterials, PO Box 1796, Atlas, 30000 Fes, Morocco
² Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel, Université de Nantes, CNRS, UMR 6502, PO Box 3229, 44322 Nantes Cedex, France

^a e-mail: baitoul@yahoo.fr

Received: 4 August 2015
Revised: 9 November 2015
Accepted: 27 November 2015
Published online: 3 May 2016

Abstract

In this work we present the effect of HiPCO single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) introduction into the conjugated polymer matrix poly(3-hexyl thiophene) (P3HT) on the structural and thermal stability of these nanocomposites. The P3HT/SWCNT nanocomposite films were prepared using chloroform and chlorobenzene as solvents and optimised ultrasonication duration. The prepared samples were analyzed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to study the effect of carbon nanotubes on the thermal stability and structure of the polymer matrix. The measurements carried out for different SWCNT loadings show that the thermal stability was enhanced for a 0.5 wt.%, but exhibits a decrease with increasing the SWCNT content. Our results prove the structural enhancement which is in favor of a better organisation for both P3HT chains and carbon nanotubes due to their interaction.