Coarse-grained molecular simulation of the effects of carbon nanotube dispersion on the mechanics of semicrystalline polymer nanocomposites

With the incorporation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), CNT/polypropylene (PP) nanocomposites are found to possess enhanced mechanical properties, but the reinforcing effect is reduced at large added CNT weight percentages due to CNT aggregation. Optimizing the properties of a nanocomposite requires a fundamental understanding of the effects of CNT dispersion on the nanocomposite. In this work, coarse-grained molecular models of CNT/PP nanocomposites...