Influence of Multi‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes and Nano‐Tungsten Carbide Hybrid Fillers in Enhancing Wettability, Fracture Toughness, and Sorption Characteristics of Polypropylene Nanocomposites

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the combined effect of MWCNT and WC on the properties of PP nanocomposites. The fracture toughness analysis revealed that the hybrid system with 1 wt% of WC and 2 wt% of MWCNT (1W2CP) showed the highest critical stress intensity factor and strain energy release rate with a plastic deformation radius of 6.4 × 10 −3 mm. The fracture toughness properties obtained by numerical models were found to be in agreement with the experimentally obtained values. The contact angle measurements and surface energy calculations revealed that the hybrid system displays superior wettability and higher surface energy. The hybrid sample exhibited the lowest diffusivity of 1.10 × 10 −7 m 2 /s as the meshed nanotubes and WC offer better sorption resistance to the transport of solvents. The hybrid system showed superior thermal resistance with E a of 264 kJ/mol owing to the formation of a dual network by the nanofillers. The heterogeneous nucleation of WC and the transcrystallization effect of CNT amplified percentage crystallinity, which increased the shear viscosity of the sample. The hydrothermal aging showed that 1W2CP exhibited higher tensile strength and low toughness, as the slow heating from −20°C to 80°C helped in the rearranging of amorphous PP chains to semi‐crystalline ones.