A simple mixing method for polyamide 12/attapulgite nanocomposites: structural and mechanical characterization

Abstract

In this work, the attapulgite (ATP) was used as a promising mineral clay to prepare polyamide 12 (PA12) matrix polymer nanocomposites. ATP has a relatively low cost compared to other nanoclays and is a very abundant raw material in the northeast region of Brazil. The ATP was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and field emission gun scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM). The PA12/ATP nanocomposites with 0, 1, 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10 wt% of ATP were prepared using a simple blending method in a high-speed thermokinetic homogenizer (3000 rpm) in which the melting of the PA12 and the mixture with ATP occurred by friction, followed by hot pressing and stamping of the specimens. The nanocomposites were characterized by mechanical properties, the degree of crystallinity and crystallite size were calculated by XRD, and the morphological characteristics were observed by SEM. The addition of ATP in the PA12 matrix increased the modulus of elasticity, hardness, degree of crystallinity and the apparent crystallite size of the nanocomposites. The addition of up to 5 wt% of ATP increased tensile strength and deformation at break; for higher concentrations, the dispersion was not efficient. A major advantage of using ATP as a reinforcement agent for PA12 is the low cost of this material plus the great interaction with PA12 which can dispense the use of compatibilizer agents and/or surface modification in the ATP, making it a potential material to extend PA12's range of applications.

Injection-Molded Parts of Partially Biobased Polyamide 610 and Biobased Halloysite Nanotubes

“…The incorporation of inorganic nano-fillers as fire retardants directly increases the hardness of the obtained composites. TF da Silva et al [ 49 ], showed that there is generally a tendency to increase the hardness of nanocomposites by increasing the content of fire-retardant fillers such as ATP or HNTs. In terms of impact strength, composites with HNTs offer decreased values.…”

Recent advances in the use of Polyamide-based materials for the automotive industry

“…Dry PAs are fragile at room temperature and have a glass transition temperature (T g ) above 50 °C; if applied at temperatures below 50 °C, the PAs have a high elastic modulus of maximum stress and low deformation at the break. Stress and elastic modulus values decrease with increasing temperature while straining increases [5] . Furthermore, another attractive mechanical property for the automotive industry is the high friction coefficient of PA, leading to high abrasion of the parts.…”

Scale-up disaggregation of palygorskite crystal bundles via ultrasonic process for using as potential drilling fluid

“…squeeze, ball milling, and grinding) or in the wet state ( e.g. high-speed shearing) have been used to disaggregate PAL crystal bundles [12] , [13] , [14] . The dry treatment with a strong or multiple mechanical shear process easily leads to the fracture of rod crystals or the transformation of crystal structure into amorphous one [12] , [15] , [16] , while the wet treatment requires a high shear rate and long time, which only partially splits the crystal bundles [17] .…”