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Toughening linear low‐density polyethylene with halloysite nanotubes
Author(s) -
Pedrazzoli Diego,
Pegoretti Alessandro,
Thomann Ralf,
Kristóf János,
KargerKocsis József
Publication year - 2015
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.23006
Subject(s) - materials science , halloysite , composite material , linear low density polyethylene , nanocomposite , thermogravimetric analysis , dynamic mechanical analysis , ultimate tensile strength , exfoliation joint , differential scanning calorimetry , polyethylene , polymer , chemical engineering , graphene , physics , engineering , thermodynamics , nanotechnology
Linear low‐density polyethylene (LLDPE)‐based composites were prepared through melt compounding and hot pressing using both untreated and treated halloysite nanotubes (HNT) up to filler contents of 8 wt% to assess the role of the filler exfoliation and surface treatment on the thermal, mechanical, and rheological properties of the resulting composites. The addition of treated nanoparticles resulted in a better dispersion of the filler within the matrix, as confirmed by observations conducted at scanning and transmission electron microscopies. A decrease in both complex viscosity and shear storage modulus was recorded for all LLDPE‐HNT nanocomposites in the molten state. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis evidenced that HNT addition produced an increase of the crystallization peak temperature, while thermogravimetric analysis showed a remarkable improvement of the thermal stability with the nanofiller content. The addition of treated HNT nanoparticles induced better improvements in elastic modulus and tensile properties at break without significant loss in ductility. The fracture toughness, evaluated by the essential work of fracture approach, showed remarkable improvements (up to a factor of 2) with addition of treated HNT. Conversely, incorporation of untreated HNT produced an adverse effect on the fracture toughness when considering the nanocomposite filled with 8 wt% HNT. Both creep tests and dynamic mechanical analyses showed an overall enhancement of the viscoelastic properties due to addition of HNT, revealing higher improvements in nanocomposites added with treated HNT. POLYM. COMPOS., 36:869–883, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers