Role of Carboxylic Acid Functionalized MWCNTs in Potentially Biodegradable Poly(Amide-Imide) Nanocomposites Based on N,N′-(Pyromellitoyl)-bis-S-valine: Preparation, Thermal and Morphological Properties

A simple solution blending process was used to efficiently disperse of carboxyl-modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CA-MWCNT)s into a potentially biodegradable poly(amide-imide) (PAI) to obtain PAI/CA-MWCNT bionanocomposites (BNC)s. CA-MWCNTs were utilized to better dispersion of MWCNTs into the polymer matrix. The PAI/CA-MWCNT BNCs were prepared with different CA-MWCNT contents (5–15 wt.%). The resulting BNCs are characterized by several techniques, powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. Adding CA-MWCNT into polymer matrix significantly increased the thermal stability of BNCs due to the increased interfacial interaction between the PAI matrix and CA-MWCNT.