Effect of Organoclay Platelets on Morphology of Nylon-6 and Poly(ethylene-ran-propylene) Rubber Blends

Abstract

The effect of organoclay platelets on morphologies of three blend compositions (80/20, 20/80, and 99.5/0.5 w/w) of nylon-6 (N6) and poly(ethylene-ran-propylene) rubber (EPR) has been studied by scanning and transmission electron micrographs. For the 80/20 (w/w) N6/ERP blend, the dispersed domain size (D) of EPR phase in the N6 matrix decreased significantly even if a small amount of the organoclay was added. The extent of the decrease in D in this blend was similar to N6/EPR blend with an in-situ reactive compatibilizer of EPR-g-maleic anhydride. The D of the blend with the clay did not change upon further annealing at high temperatures, which suggests that the clay seems to be an effective compatibilizer. But, for the 20/80 (w/w) N6/EPR blend, dispersed N6 domain did not decrease with increasing the amount of the clay up to 2 wt %. Moreover, the dispersed N6 domains were not stable against further annealing at high temperatures; thus, coalescence of N6 domains was observed. Furthermore, for 99.5/0.5 (w/w) N6/EPR blend dispersed EPR domains did not change with the amount of the clay. The results indicate that as long as the clay becomes exfoliated in the matrix, the exfoliated clay plates effectively prevent the coalescence of the dispersed domains.

Properties of melt-processed poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate)/starch 1:1 blend nanocomposites

“…In fact, the incorporation of 30 wt% of cassava starch to a 70:30 PHBV/poly(butylene adipate-coterephthalate) blend led to a higher biodegradation rate without significant changes in mechanical properties [24] . For the 80:20 blend of PHBV with 5 mol% of hydroxyvalerate and high-amylose starch, improvement of compatibilization was achieved during processing with an organic peroxyde [34] . Recently, some results were published concerning the role of clay minerals nanoparticules as compatibilizing and reinforcing agents for some immiscible synthetic polymer blends, when located at the interface or within the continuous phase [34][35][36][37][38] .…”

“…For the 80:20 blend of PHBV with 5 mol% of hydroxyvalerate and high-amylose starch, improvement of compatibilization was achieved during processing with an organic peroxyde [34] . Recently, some results were published concerning the role of clay minerals nanoparticules as compatibilizing and reinforcing agents for some immiscible synthetic polymer blends, when located at the interface or within the continuous phase [34][35][36][37][38] . Considering the favorable interactions between starch and montmorillonites [39][40][41] , the objective of this work was to investigate the properties of 1:1 PHBV and regular cornstarch blend nanocomposites, prepared by melt-extrusion in the presence of increasing contents of an organicallymodified montmorillonite.…”

Effect of organo-modified montmorillonite on poly(butylene succinate)/poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) nanocomposites

“…They revealed that this blend is immiscible but only one T g was observed due to the close proximity of individual T g 's of both PBS and PBAT. Other reports have shown that OMMT can act as compatibilizer for immiscible polymer blends [9][10][11][12][13][14][15] which exhibit remarkable improvement in their properties compared to the pristine polymer or the conventional composite [16,17]. The interlayer cations between the silicate layers such as Na + are exchanged with organic cations to increase the organonophilicity of the clay layers.…”

Synergistic Effect of EG and Cloisite 15A on the Thermomechanical Properties and Thermal Conductivity of EVA/PCL Blend

“…A lot of studies have been done on the influence of organo-clay on polymer blends [17][18][19][20][21] . These studies have shown the organoclay may reside preferable within the bulk of the better compatible polymer, might also become localized at the interfacial region as well.…”