Viscoelastic Properties, Aging, and Thermal Degradation Behavior of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Hybrid Nanocomposites

ABSTRACT This study investigates the microstructural characteristics, rheological behavior, mechanical performance, thermal aging response, and degradation mechanism of ABS‐based hybrid nanocomposites reinforced with aluminium nitride (AlN)/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Enhanced nanofiller dispersion led to improvement in shear viscosity and consistency index in AH2 hybrid (1.5 wt.% AlN/0.5 wt.% MWCNTs), exhibiting a 128% increase compared to neat ABS. Dynamic mechanical analysis revealed a 53% rise in entanglement density for AH2 compared to pure matrix ABS. The Einstein model was in close agreement with the experimental data. Thermal aging effects evinced through tensile, creep, and thermogravimetric analyses indicated that AH2 retained 29% higher tensile strength and displayed very low creep deformation compared to ABS, both before and after aging. Regardless of aging‐induced chain scission, the MH2 (1.5 wt.% MWCNTs/0.5 wt.% AlN) composite maintained superior mechanical and creep resistance due to the combined effect of thermal stability from AlN and restricted polymer chain mobility imparted by MWCNTs. Thermal activation energy of MH2 was found to be 24% and 30% higher than base polymer before and after aging, respectively. Overall, these findings established the fitness of ABS‐based hybrid nanocomposites for high‐performance engineering applications.