Preparation and Performance Analysis of SMA-grafted Aminated Carbon Nanotube Antistatic Agent

In this study, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were acidified and aminated via the mixed acid method and polyethylenepolyamine (PEPA). Subsequently, styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer (SMA) was grafted onto aminated carbon nanotubes (CNT-NH₂) to synthesize SMA-grafted carbon nanotube antistatic agents (SMA-g-CNT). Three types of composites, namely pristine CNT/ABS (P-CNT/ABS), aminated CNT/ABS (CNT-NH₂/ABS) and SMA-g-CNT/ABS, were fabricated by melt blending the modified carbon nanotubes with acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS). Raman spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses verified that SMA was successfully grafted onto the surface of CNTs, and the intrinsic graphite structure of CNTs remained intact during the functionalization process. The experimental results show that when the mass fraction of SMA-g-CNT was 3%, the surface resistivity of the composite decreased to 4.2×10⁸ Ω, which was three orders of magnitude lower than that of P-CNT/ABS with the same filler content. Meanwhile, the tensile strength, flexural strength and impact strength of the SMA-g-CNT/ABS composite were all significantly enhanced.