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Parts‐per‐million polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane loading induced mechanical reinforcement in polyethylene nanocomposites. When small and well‐dispersed yields big
Author(s) -
RomoUribe Angel,
Lichtenhan Joseph,
ReyesMayer Adriana,
CalixtoRodriguez Manuela,
SarmientoBustos Estela,
YañezLino Mauricio
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
polymers for advanced technologies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.61
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1099-1581
pISSN - 1042-7147
DOI - 10.1002/pat.4961
Subject(s) - materials science , composite material , nanocomposite , toughness , silsesquioxane , low density polyethylene , polyethylene , linear low density polyethylene , ultimate tensile strength , polymer
The expectation that composites fabricated with nanoscale reinforcing materials will exhibit exceptional mechanical properties remains to be fulfilled. Here, octaisobutyl‐polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (buPOSS) nanochemical was melt blended with low‐density/linear low‐density polyethylene (LDPE/LLDPE) to form nanostructured films. We demonstrate that buPOSS concentrations of only 80 to 400 parts‐per‐million (ppm) are enough to produce nearly 2‐fold increase of the film's tensile Young's modulus, E MD . Strikingly, there was no penalty on strain at fracture ε f,MD , as usually seen in reinforced (nano) composites, rather ε f,MD increased with buPOSS content. Furthermore, other important mechanical properties like toughness, yield stress, tear resistance, and dart impact strength were also an increasing function of buPOSS content. The dispersion of buPOSS into the polyethylene matrix at nearly single cage unit is the key to mechanical reinforcement. The buPOSS size D , smaller than the virtual tube diameter d t defined by Doi and Edwards, indicate that buPOSS is capable to intercalate the entangled macromolecules and mechanically reinforce without acting as stress concentrators. Furthermore, the entanglement intercalation and consequent reduction of free volume induced reduction of oxygen transmission (OTR) through the films and the barrier properties were intact after 18 months aging at room temperature. The nanosized and efficient dispersion of buPOSS is key to the mechanical reinforcement at only ppm loading and these results add a new paradigm to polymer nanocomposites formulation.