Effect of clay surfactant type and clay content on the rheology and morphology of uncured fluoroelastomer/clay nanocomposites prepared by melt‐mixing

Abstract

Fluoroelastomer/clay composites were prepared by melt mixing in an internal mixer using Cloisite V R Nanoclays: NA, 15A, 20A, 30B, and 93A at three different concentrations viz. 2.5, 5.0, and 10.0 phr. Rheology, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize the composites prepared. Dynamic rheological measurements showed significant increase in storage moduli (G 0 ) in the terminal frequency region for the uncured composites prepared from Cloisite V R 15A and 20A. At higher frequencies, organically modified nanoclays plasticize the polymer matrix leading to lower modulus values. Using all three characterization techniques, Cloisite V R 15A and 20A were shown to have intercalated structure in the fluoroelastomer matrix, whereas other nanoclays were shown to have inferior dispersion. The storage modulus increases proportionally with increase in the clay loading and no clay aggregation was observed at higher loadings.

Vulcanization behavior and mechanical properties of organoclay fluoroelastomer nanocomposites

“…It is not surprising that the d ‐spacing of the vulcanizate is lower than that of the clay 15A (3.27 nm) because the original d ‐spacing in 15A clay is high due to unbound surfactant in the galleries. However, the unbound surfactant is prone to being flushed out of the clay galleries as the authors have discussed earlier 12. In Figure 2(b), a decrease of d ‐spacing is clearly seen for 10 phr Cloisite 20A/FKM evident from the shift of XRD peak to higher angle.…”

“…Uncured FKM/Clay composites were prepared using the procedure described earlier 12. The composites were further compounded with curing ingredients as follows: uncured FKM/clay composites were loaded in a Haake Rheomix Series 600 with Banbury blades.…”

“…In this study, the authors have studied the effect of unmodified clay and organoclays on the behavior of peroxide vulcanization of FKM and the mechanical properties of clay/FKM nanocomposites produced by melt compounding. In our previous study, the authors have used melt compounding to study the effect of the surfactant type and the clay concentration on the rheological behavior and the morphology of unvulcanized clay/FKM nanocomposites 12. The authors concluded that Cloisite® nanoclays 15A and 20A exhibit better compatibility with FKM matrix.…”

Systematic study of interfacial interactions between clays and an ionomer

“…Organic–inorganic nanocomposites (NCs) are multifunctional materials with a wide range of interesting properties, and they overcome the poor adhesion/interface problems of microcomposites, which stem from the ability to control the nanoarchitecture of materials at a very early stage of preparation 1–4. Several routes, such as intercalation,5–8 electrocrystallization,9 and sol–gel processing,10, 11 can be used to synthesize hybrid materials.…”

“…Organic-inorganic nanocomposites (NCs) are multifunctional materials with a wide range of interesting properties, and they overcome the poor adhesion/ interface problems of microcomposites, which stem from the ability to control the nanoarchitecture of materials at a very early stage of preparation. [1][2][3][4] Several routes, such as intercalation, [5][6][7][8] electrocrystallization, 9 and sol-gel processing, 10,11 can be used to synthesize hybrid materials. Intercalation involves the use of a unique, self-assembling inorganic material, such as clay, to prepare organic-inorganic hybrid composites, which can be used as host lattices for organic materials because of their platy morphology with a high aspect ratio .…”