The Effect of Interface Chemical Bonds on the Behaviour of Nanotube-Polyethylene Composites Under Nano-particle Impacts

This paper uses the molecular dynamics method to investigate the influence of chemical bonds on the mechanical behaviour of nanotube–polyethylene composites subjected to nano-particle impacts. In the analysis, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were incorporated into the polyethylene (PE) matrix in two ways, with and without radical centres, so that the resulting nano-composites had two corresponding properties, i.e., with and without chemical bonds at the CNT–PE interfaces. A spherical diamond nano-particle was used to impact and penetrate into the composites with a high velocity. It was found that the interface chemical bonds play an important role in the composite reinforcement.