Enhancement of mechanical properties of poly(vinyl chloride) with polymethyl methacrylate-grafted halloysite nanotube

Abstract

Halloysite nanotubes(HNTs) grafted with Polymethyl methacrylate(PMMA) were synthesized via radical polymerization. The properties of PMMA-grafted HNTs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results showed that PMMA grafted to the surfaces of HNTs successfully. Then, PVC/PMMA-grafted HNTs nanocomposites were prepared by melt compounding. The morphology, mechanical properties and thermal properties of the nanocomposites were investigated. PMMA-grafted HNTs can effectively improve the toughness, strength and modulus of PVC. The glass transition and thermal decomposition temperatures of PVC phase in PVC/PMMA-grafted HNTs nanocomposites are shifted toward slightly higher temperatures. The grafted HNTs were uniformly dispersed in PVC matrix as revealed by TEM photos. The fracture surfaces of the nanocomposites exhibited plastic deformation feature indicating ductile fracture behaviors. The improvement of toughness of PVC by PMMA-grafted HNTs was attributed to the improved interfacial bonding by grafting and the toughening mechanism was explained according to the cavitation mechanism

Morphology and tensile properties of thermoplastic polyurethane-halloysite nanotube nanocomposites

“…HNTs have recently gained considerable attention as a new type of nano-additive for enhancing the mechanical [13][14][15], thermal, crystallization [16,17], and fire performance of thermoplastic polymers, such as polypropylene and polyamide-6 [18], and thermosets, such as epoxy [19]. In recent years, the assembly of ordered metal nanoparticleson one-dimensional nanotubes to synthesize nanocomposites has attracted a great deal of attention in the field of electroanalytical chemistry; particularly in electrochemical sensors [20].…”

Recent Advances on Surface Modification of Halloysite Nanotubes for Multifunctional Applications

“…The functionalized HNTs have improved hydrophobicity and dispersibility in organic solvents. Liu et al [31] prepared modified HNTs by grafting the polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) via radical polymerization and then compounding with poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC) to form composites with higher toughness, strength, and modulus. The results showed that the modified HNTs have uniform dispersed in PVC aqueous solution.…”

The effect of halloysite modification combined with in situ matrix modifications on the structure and properties of polypropylene/halloysite nanocomposites

“…A further difference between the layered silicatelike montmorillonite (MMT) and halloysite is the significantly lower cation exchange capacity (CEC) of HNT for modification via ionic exchange. However, in halloysite, nanocomposites with highly polar polymer contents [9][10][11][12], such as PVC [9,10], PA [11,12], or epoxy [13], require no modification/ treatment of the halloysite for the preparation of melt-mixed polymer nanocomposites with well distributed HNT. With non-polar polyolefins such as PP, due to the highly hydrophobic nature of PP, it is necessary to modify not only the halloysite [14][15][16][17], but also the polymer matrix to increase the polarity of PP [18][19][20][21].…”