Structure and properties of clay/recycled plastic composites

Abstract

We are presenting a clay (montmorillonite) based method of reintroducing plastics back into the market without subjecting them to extended processing methods. We have prepared montmorillonite/recycled polymer materials with recycled polystyrene (R-PS) and recycled polyethylene (R-PE). R-PS was melt mixed with as-received organomodified montmorillonite or blowing agent treated organomodified montmorillonite which led to intercalated/exfoliated clay/polymer nanocomposites. Similarly, R-PE was melt compounded, with or without the addition of a compatibiliser with the above mentioned organomodified clay minerals which resulted in conventional composite formation. In the case of R-PS, the thermal degradation temperature of the materials increased with the presence of clay minerals, whereas for R-PE based materials it was observed that the thermal degradation temperatures decreased with the presence of clay minerals. Overall it was observed that the presence of clay minerals improved the stiffness of the materials. The use of blowing agent treated organomodified clay minerals in R-PS led to nearly doubled impact strength compared to organomodified clay/R-PS nanocomposites.

PVC - clay nanocomposites: Preparation, mechanical and thermal properties

“…Numerous studies have shown that the introduction of nanoclay into a polymeric matrix can provide a wide range of property enhancements, such as increased composite stiffness and strength, enhanced gas barrier properties, improved flam retardancy, and reduced smoke generation compared to the virgin polymer and conventional composites. These improvements are obtained at significantly lower loading level than those of traditional fillers (Cui et al, 2015;Guo et al, 2018;Istrate and Chen, 2018;Liu et al, 2012;Zhu et al, 2019).…”

Fabrication of nanoclay gel composite: A novel nanoclay masterbatch approach to nanocomposite preparation via melt extrusion process

“…The Young's moduli of PS/clay nanocomposites prepared using all nanoclay masterbatch formulas and organoclay were improved with the increment of the clay loadings from 1 to 3 wt% (as shown in Table ). This implied the high performance of the nanoclay particles to resist the plastic deformation and enhanced the stretching resistance of the oriented polymer backbones in the nanoclay interlayer spacings . The most improvement of Young's modulus compared with pristine PS was about 19% obtained from 3 wt% of the inorganic clay content using C10_P10 due to a partially exfoliated nanocomposite structure.…”

“…The most improvement of Young's modulus compared with pristine PS was about 19% obtained from 3 wt% of the inorganic clay content using C10_P10 due to a partially exfoliated nanocomposite structure. Moreover, the improvement of the modulus intensively was related to the volume of the filled clay as well as the strong interaction between the nanoclay particles and polymer matrix . Focusing on the added 3 wt% nanoclay, the decrease of the modulus was shown by using C20_P20 and C30_P30, respectively.…”

“…The impact strength of all nanocomposites was improved with the addition of nanoclay in comparison to pure PS. This effect was due to the reinforcing characteristic of the nanoclay within the polymer matrix of both intercalated and exfoliated structures . The outstanding impact strength values were focused with the presence of the exfoliated nanocomposite structure, especially the PS/clay nanocomposites prepared using C10_P10 at a 3 wt% of the inorganic clay loading with a 29% increase in impact strength higher than the pristine PS.…”

Mechanical Properties of Polypropylene (PP) – Montmorillonite (MMT) Nanocomposites for Pre-Fabricated Vertical Drain (PVD) Application

“…Nowadays, natural filler an alternate method has arose relating the use of natural fillers as one of the most interesting material that can be make use of to improve the properties of the final nanocomposite. Between the nanofillers used in nanocomposites, clays certainly play a key role as different types of clay reinforcement are currently conquered the polymer trades because they have verified good performances [15][16][17][18][19][20]. However, the combination of clay typically results in a deterioration of the tensile properties like tensile extension at break and impact strength.…”