Tandem Action of Early-Late Transition Metal Catalysts for the Surface Coating of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes with Linear Low Density Polyethylene

The homogeneous surface coating of multiwalled carbon nanotubes with linear low-density polyethylenes, containing from 3 to 34 branches per 1000 carbon atoms, has been achieved for the first time by combining the polymerization-filling technique (PFT) with tandem copolymerization catalysis. This method, which takes advantage of the use of ethylene as single monomer feed, allows for the breakup of the native nanotube bundles and provides an effective way to control the branching in the PEs produced at the nanotube surface. TEM micrographs of the composite materials have shown an interesting dependence of the PE-coating morphology on the experimental parameters of the tandem system.