No abstract

No abstract

In this research, we investigated the mechanical and thermal properties of acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS)–clay nanocomposites and correlated them with morphological characterizations. We prepared nanocomposites of ABS–clay by melt compounding in a Haake internal mixer. In this study, we investigated the influence of the ion‐exchange process and clay loading on the nanocomposite structure and characterized the nanocomposites with wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), contact angle measurement, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), tensile properties, hardness testing, and thermogravimetric analysis. The ABS–organomuscovite nanocomposites in this study displayed a higher tensile strength than ABS–muscovite. The modified muscovite indicated a 13% modulus elasticity in the ABS nanocomposites, whereas the elongation at break was detrimentally affected compared to that of the neat ABS. The WAXD and TEM results show the presence of mixed intercalated and exfoliated structures. FESEM analysis further revealed a good dispersion and interfacial adhesion of clay layers after subsequent modification. The contact angle measurements showed that the incorporation of organoclay was able to improve the hydrophobicity of the ABS nanocomposites. Finally, the hardness and thermal stability of the nanocomposites improved with the incorporation of modified muscovite. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 46827.