Morphological, Thermal, and Mechanical Behavior of Polyamide11/Sepiolite Bio‐Nanocomposites Prepared by Melt Compounding and In Situ Polymerization

Abstract

The use of bio‐based plastics as polymeric matrices to produce technical composites has become an important topic in material science. In this sense, bio‐based polyamides represent an interesting alternative to their petroleum‐based counterparts because of their good thermal and mechanical properties, their low specific weight, and their ability to be used in complex parts by injection molding. In the present study, bio‐based polyamide 11/sepiolite nanocomposites were prepared using the two most feasible techniques from the industrial point of view: melt compounding and in situ polymerization. The effect of the preparation approach and the amount of nanoclay were evaluated to check their influence on thermal, morphological, and mechanical behavior of the final nanocomposites. Regardless of the preparation approach, all nanocomposites showed improvements in thermo‐mechanical properties with increasing contents of sepiolite. However, the nanocomposites obtained by in situ polymerization presented higher values of Young's modulus, tensile strength, and heat distortion temperature due to a greater dispersion of the nanoclay in the final composites. For in situ polymerization, the dispersion of sepiolite nanoparticles is carried out when polymer chains are growing and the viscosity of the system is low. POLYM. COMPOS., 40:E704–E713, 2019. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers

The Influence of Sepiolite Orientation and Concentration, on the Morphological, Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Bio‐Polyamide 4.10 Nanocomposites

“…Crystallization degree increases with the addition of sepiolite. This is due to sepiolite acted as nucleating agent increasing the crystallization degree .…”

“…The investigation was carried out on 5 and 15wt% of filler to study the properties and the orientation at a low concentration and a high concentration of filler. These selected quantities have been based on previous studies of PA 11 reinforced with sepiolite . Temperature ramp were set from 240°C to 270°C, from the feeding section to the material output section, respectively.…”

“…In this sense, bio‐polyamides represent one of the most interesting alternatives to their fossil‐based counterparts because of their good mechanical performance and high level of thermal and chemical resistance . Bio‐based polyamides have a mid to long chain length.…”

Smart Polymer Nanocomposites: Recent Advances and Perspectives

“…Herrero M. et al, reported the synthesis of bio-based polyamide 11/sepiolite nanocomposites using melt compounding and in situ polymerization. As a result, in both synthesis methods, the sepiolite dispersed homogeneously within the polymer matrix, and improvements in Young's modulus, tensile strength, and thermal distortion temperature were reported; however, in situ polymerization allowed to achieved better dispersions of the clay [45]. Finally, Bayraktar et al, reported the synthesis of silver nanowire/polylactide nanocomposites using the solution mixing method and its subsequent 3D printed to obtain desired shapes.…”

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

“…In recent years, several nanoclays have been widely studied to improve the mechanical properties of polymeric matrices, especially montmorillonite [5][6][7], halloysite [8][9][10] and sepiolite [11][12][13].…”