The effect of nature of clay on the thermo–mechanodynamical and electrical properties of epoxy/clay nanocomposites prepared from bisphenolic epoxy resins and different nanoclays are presented. The thermal–mechanodynamical properties of the nanocomposites were studied by DMTA, showing significant increase in both elastic modulus and glass transition temperature. Short time AC dielectric breakdown strength measurements carried out on the nanocomposites showed an increase in dielectric breakdown strength for the nanocomposites prepared with organically modified clays. The space charges accumulated in the materials as studied by pulsed electroacoustics method showed a significant decrease in the space charge accumulation in the nanocomposites with organoclays as the nanofiller. Similarly the space charge decays almost completely in the nanocomposites prepared with organoclays as nanofiller. POLYM. COMPOS., 2011. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers

The effect of amount of clay content on the thermomechanical and electrical properties of epoxy/organoclay nanocomposites is investigated in the present research. An organoclay, cloisite 30B (C30B), was dispersed in the epoxy resin and was cured with an amine curing agent. The morphology of the nanocomposite examined by X-ray diffraction shows exfoliation for nanocomposites with lesser clay content and intercalation for nanocomposites with higher clay content. The storage modulus (E 0 ) of the nanocomposites increases monotonously with the increase in the amount of clay. The short time alternating current breakdown strength of the nanocomposites increases by the addition of C30B up to a certain clay content and then show a decrease. The space charge measured by pulsed electroacoustic method shows that the nanocomposite accumulate a very less amount of space charge and the charge decay in the nanocomposites are quicker than in the pure polymer.

Polycarbonate is well known for forming amorphous, transparent, and exceptionally tough articles by conventional methods such as injection molding and extrusion. It is not possible to extrude polycarbonate from the melt into crystalline, shaped articles. A novel method to fabricate crystalline polycarbonate articles from acetone‐crystallized powder was devised. The method was adapted from powder metallurgy and it involved compacting acetone‐crystallized polycarbonate powder above the glass transition temperature (Tg) and below the melting peak temperature (Tm). The hot powder‐compaction process yielded shaped articles, which retained the crystallinity of the original polycarbonate powder. Although the crystallinity of the powder and the articles was less than 20%, surprisingly the articles were non‐sticking above the Tg and so could be released from the mold at the compaction temperature. Furthermore, the crystalline polycarbonate articles had a Vicat softening temperature above 180°C, excellent shape and dimension retention above Tg, increased hardness, as well as resistance to acetone and other solvents. That is, the properties were different from those of conventional amorphous polycarbonate articles. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 57:581–590, 2017. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers

This investigation is dedicated to the development of a new class of nanostructured composite material from cycloaliphatic epoxy polymers with nanoclay and microsilica as the fillers and the analysis of the behavior associated in the inclined plane tracking test (IEC 60587). Composite materials with different weight percentages of fillers were prepared and subjected to electrical tracking according to the standard. XRD and SEM measurements were carried out to study the dispersion of the fillers and the morphology of the composites. It has been found that the nanostructured composite prepared with a lesser amount of nanoclay (1.0 to 2.5 wt%) showed a better resistance to tracking and erosion under wet contaminated conditions in the inclined plane tracking test.

Natural fibers offer a great advantage of being used as a reinforcement in polymer matrix composites because of the many advantages natural fibers offer over conventional reinforcement fillers. Date palm fiber is one of the most available natural fibrous materials in the Middle Eastern region to be exploited as a fiber reinforcement in polymers. In the present work, the fibers extracted from the date palm tree trunk, branches, and leaves were used for the reinforcement of the polypropylene matrix. Electron microscopic images show excellent bonding between the fiber and matrix as no fiber pullout is observed. The thermal (heat deflection temperature) and mechanical properties (Izod impact, tensile and flexural modulus) of the composites increased with an increase in the fiber loading from 20% to 60%, which in turn resulted in excellent mechanical properties in the final product. The work has immense significance in using date palm as an easily available natural resource for a useful product.