Effect of multilayer carbon nanotubes on mechanical properties and phase transformations of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene during drawing

Nanocomposite materials on the basis of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene and multilayer carbon nanotubes (MCNTs), the concentration of which varied from 0.1 to 1 wt %, were prepared by combined deposition from solution. The presence of carbon nanotubes in the polymer matrix leads to structural changes strongly affecting the physical properties of composites. The interrelation between the macroscopic behavior under deformation and the microstructure of the composite was studied in situ by X-ray structural analysis with the application of synchrotron radiation. The results indicate that the martensite transformation of the orthorhombic phase of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene into the monoclinic one induced by the deformation and the relative content of the metastable phase are determined by the presence of carbon nanotubes.