(447o) Surface Energy Enhancement of Poly(butylene terephthalate) By Addition of TiO2 and Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane (POSS)  Nanoparticles

The presence of water droplets in fuels is a major factor affecting the performance of diesel engines, contributing to fuel system corrosion, fouling and performance degradation. Coalescing filters are efficient and effectual for the removal of water drops from fuel. One disadvantage of the filtering approaches is that the hydrophobicity of fibers can cause increased liquid holdup in the filter which in turn reduces the filterâ??s permeability. Due to its excellent chemical and mechanical properties, poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) largely used to produce fibers for coalescing filters, for the removal of water drops from fuel. One disadvantage of the filtering approach is the hydrophobicity of PBT fibers which causes liquid holdup in the filter, which in turn reduces the permeability. Surface energy enhancement of PBT by addition of hydrophilic fillers could decrease the hydrophobicity and modify the filters performance. In this research, poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) based nanocomposites containing nano- Titanium dioxide and Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane (POSS) nanomaterial were prepared by melt compounding. The influence of these nano materials on surface energy of the resultant nanocomposites was investigated by the use of contact angle measurement (CAM). Contact angle measurements of the resultant PBT nanocomposites showed that the wettability of such composites depends on the particular nanoparticles used. PBT/TiO₂ (5 wt.%) and PBT/Trisilanolethyl POSS (5 wt.%) showed the lowest water contact angle and the highest wettability.