Authors: SunMou Lai WenChih Chen Zi Way Wang
Publish Date: 2010/09/30
Volume: 18, Issue: 5, Pages: 1033-1042
Abstract
Peroxidecured metallocene polyethylene mPE/clay nanocomposites were prepared via melt mixing followed by hot press curing The maleated compatibilizer mPE grafted maleic anhydride mPEgMA was incorporated to improve the dispersion of various amounts of commercial organoclay denoted as 20A Experimental samples were analyzed using Xray diffraction XRD and transmission electron microscopy TEM Results indicated that there was an increase in dispersion with the addition of the compatibilizer A measurable difference in the crystallization temperature up to 95 °C can be found for cured mPE reinforced with 5 phr clay in comparison cured mPE indicating the promotion of crystallization kinetics through the addition of clay moiety Taking 5 wt loss as an index of thermal stability the degradation temperature increased from 3752 °C in cured mPE to 4312 °C in the maleated 5 phrloaded system the highest improvement in all investigated cases The Young’s Modulus and tear strength of maleated nanocomposites containing the compatibilizer at 9 phr clay content showed the highest values of up to 2 times increment compared those without clay reflecting the increased interfacial interaction with the exploit of the compatibilizerPartial TEM measurements provided by Dr FC Chiu at the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering Chang Gung University TAIWAN are acknowledged as well We are also grateful to Dr HF Shen at Plastics Industry Development Center TAIWAN on the discussion of grafting process and Ms WenChing Chen to her DMA measurement
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