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Preparation and characterization of polymer/organosilicate nanocomposites based on unmodified LDPE
Author(s) -
Giannakas A.,
Xidas P.,
Triantafyllidis K. S.,
Katsoulidis A.,
Ladavos A.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.30448
Subject(s) - low density polyethylene , materials science , nanocomposite , differential scanning calorimetry , compounding , thermogravimetric analysis , thermal stability , composite material , polyethylene , polymer , crystallization , polymer blend , montmorillonite , chemical engineering , copolymer , physics , engineering , thermodynamics
Low‐density polyethylene (LDPE)/silicate nanocomposites were prepared by the melt compounding and solution blend methods using unmodified LDPE polymer and layered silicates with different aspect ratio. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis performed on composites obtained by dispersing the organosilicates in molten LDPE evidenced an exfoliated or partially exfoliated structure for the low aspect ratio silicate (laponite) in contrast to the high aspect ratio silicate (montmorillonite), which led to the formation of intercalated nanocomposites. With regard to the preparation method, the melt compounding method was more effective in forming exfoliated/highly intercalated LDPE nanocomposites compared with the solution blend method (using CCl 4 as a solvent). A gradual increase in crystallization temperatures ( T c ) with increasing laponite content for LDPE‐organolaponite nanocomposites was revealed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements. Thermogravimetric analysis and tensile measurements results indicated that thermal stability and elastic modulus increment were more prevalent for nanocomposites prepared using organomontmorillonite as filler. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009