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Potential of ball milling to improve clay dispersion in nanocomposites
Author(s) -
PerrinSarazin Florence,
Sepehr Maryam,
Bouaricha Salim,
Denault Johanne
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.21295
Subject(s) - materials science , microstructure , ball mill , compounding , nanocomposite , rheology , montmorillonite , polypropylene , composite material , dispersion (optics) , dynamic mechanical analysis , ball (mathematics) , polymer , mathematical analysis , physics , mathematics , optics
The preparation of exfoliated polymer nanocomposites (PNC) in nonpolar system is still preoccupying researchers in the domain. The ball milling coupled with melt‐compounding was used for the preparation of polypropylene/montmorillonite PNC to evaluate the potential of ball milling in the improvement of clay dispersion. Different approaches were used for doing a preliminary ball milling of clay with or without coupling agent and of all components prior to melt‐compounding. The microstructure as well as the rheological and the dynamic mechanical behaviors of the PNC compounds were characterized. The best improvements in clay dispersion were obtained by ball milling clay in the presence of other components to reduce particle agglomeration. The rheological behavior of the compounds confirmed their microstructure. The thermomechanical properties of PNC showed an enhancement in the storage modulus in the glassy and the rubbery states, independent of their microstructure. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers.