Polymer nanocomposites based on needle-like sepiolite clays: Effect of functionalized polymers on the dispersion of nanofiller, crystallinity, and mechanical properties
article
Polypropylene (PP)/sepiolite (Sep) nanocomposites are prepared by melt compounding in a miniextruder apparatus. The often used maleic anhydridemodified polypropylene (PP-g-MA) is compared with two custom-made functionalized polymers, PP-acid and the di-block copolymer PP-PEO, with respect to the filler dispersion and filler reinforcement efficiency. For that purpose, morphological and mechanical studies are carried out by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and mechanical tensile tests. In addition, the nanocomposites are characterized by wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) techniques, to assess the effect of the nanofiller on the crystalline structure of the PP matrix nano-filler. The use of PP-PEO and PP-acid resulted in a better nanofiller dispersion compared with traditional PP-g-MA-modified systems. Sepiolite acts as nucleating agent for the crystallization of PP and seems to lead to an orientation of the α-phase crystals.
TNO Identifier
240610
ISSN
00218995
Source
Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 107(2), pp. 1116-1123.
Publisher
Wiley
Collation
8 p.
Pages
1116-1123
Files
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