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Water assisted exfoliation of PA6/clay nanocomposites using a twin screw extruder: Effect of water contact time
Author(s) -
Molajavadi Vadoud,
Garmabi Hamid
Publication year - 2010
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.32766
Subject(s) - exfoliation joint , plastics extrusion , montmorillonite , materials science , nanocomposite , polyamide , rheology , intercalation (chemistry) , composite material , ultimate tensile strength , mixing (physics) , chemical engineering , chemistry , graphene , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering
Polyamide 6/Na + montmorillonite (Na + MMT) nanocomposites (NCs) were produced in a corotating twin screw extruder. Water was injected into the extruder as an intercalating/exfoliating agent. The wide angle X‐ray diffraction and linear dynamic measurements were used to investigate the structure of the prepared samples. The results showed that the contact time between water and melt PA6/Na + MMT in the extruder is an important factor to achieve a high level of exfoliation. The ratio of water‐injection rate to clay feeding rate did not reveal a major effect on the exfoliation of pristine MMT. The results also demonstrated that the order of injection of water during the mixing process did not have a distinguishable effect on the level of exfoliation. This processing method was found to be controlled by a diffusion mechanism caused by the presence of water molecules during the process. Improvement of tensile properties is in a great agreement with the rheological and morphological findings. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011