Reinforcement of Polyethylene Terephthalate via Addition of Carbon-Based Materials

Abstract Polyethylene terephthalate is one of the most important engineering thermoplastic materials and polymers. Based on its processing and thermal treatments, PET possesses an amorphous (transparent) or a semicrystalline (opaque and white) form. Nowadays, much attention has been paid to the addition of carbon-based materials to PET polymer. Carbon-based materials including carbon nanotubes, carbon fiber, and graphene have extraordinary thermal conductivity and mechanical and electrical properties, thus finding applications as additives to various structural and functional materials. When they are incorporated into a PET polymer matrix, the resulting composites have significantly different electrical, mechanical, and physical–chemical properties than the original.