Effect of Bifunctional Montmorillonite on the Thermal and Tribological Properties of Polystyrene/Montmorillonite Nanocomposites

Abstract

In this work, the effect of doubly functionalized montmorillonite (MMT) on the structure, morphology, thermal, and tribological characteristics of the resulting polystyrene (PS) nanocomposites was investigated. The modification of the MMT was performed using a cationic surfactant and an anionic surfactant or a silane coupling agent to increase the compatibility with PS matrix. The polystyrene/organo-montmorillonite (PS/OMMT) nanocomposite particles were prepared by soap-free emulsion polymerization. The OMMT was studied using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The structural and morphological changes of PS/OMMT nanocomposites were further characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The thermal stability of all the PS/OMMT nanocomposites was higher than that of the pure PS. The anti-wear properties of the polyalphaolefin (PAO) were significantly improved due to the introduction of the PS/OMMT nanocomposite particles. The nanocomposites prepared by a cationic surfactant and a silane coupling agent exhibited the best thermal stability and tribological performance. Our results provide the valuable insights needed to guide the design of lubrication and friction reducing materials.

Enhanced mechanical, thermal, and barrier properties of poly (3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyhexanoate)/montmorillonite nanocomposites using silane coupling agent

“…[ 22 ] KH550 grafted to MMT and PHBH improved interface compatibility. [ 35 ] Figure 9B shows the changes of the young's modulus, tensile strength, and elongation at break of the nanocomposites. It can be seen that, with the increase of the KH550, the mechanical properties increased first and then decreased, which were larger than that of the PHBH/MMT nanocomposite.…”

The Effect of Bi-Functionalized MMT on Morphology, Thermal Stability, Dynamic Mechanical, and Tensile Properties of Epoxy/Organoclay Nanocomposites

“…In addition, the percentage of weight loss also correlates well with the composition of the surface modifier as per technical specification in Table 1. At higher temperatures of around 650 °C, another small weight loss of 2.12% was observed which can correlate to the dehydroxylation of the clay layers [20,39]. The reaction process may be shown chemically as below [40]: Figure 10.…”

Enhancing the Mechanical and Tribological Properties of Cellulose Nanocomposites with Aluminum Nanoadditives

“…Moreover, HPMC has already been approved for food-based applications, which makes it suitable for preparing edible films and coatings [2]. Recently, many studies on bio-based research topics have been proposed, which also show great potential for future applications, such as montmorillonite nanoclay [3] and bio-based coatings [4].…”