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Thermal and structural characterization of biodegradable blends filled with halloysite nanotubes
Author(s) -
Russo Pietro,
Vetrano Barbara,
Acierno Domenico,
Mauro Marco
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
polymer composites
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.577
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1548-0569
pISSN - 0272-8397
DOI - 10.1002/pc.22419
Subject(s) - materials science , crystallinity , nucleation , composite material , halloysite , crystallization , extrusion , phase (matter) , filler (materials) , characterization (materials science) , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , chemistry , organic chemistry , engineering
Fully biodegradable composites based on a commercial PHBV/PBAT blend with varying concentrations of neat or silanized clay nanotubes were prepared by twin‐screw extrusion and filmed by melt blowing process. Thermal analysis suggested the simultaneous occurrence for the PHBV phase of both homogeneous crystallization and heterogeneous nucleation promoted by the included fillers. These phenomena show effects of mutual entities depending on the quality of the filler–matrix interface and the applied cooling rate. On the contrary, for the PBAT phase, although the filler may alter kinetics and mechanisms of crystallizations, no effect is reported in terms of its degree of crystallinity. All these evidences have been supported by structural investigations. Moreover, X‐ray diffraction analysis indicated that the process of film blowing enables the formation of more perfect crystals and, as expected, favors the orientation of the included nanotubes of clay. POLYM. COMPOS., 34:1460–1470, 2013. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers