This paper investigates the use of an aqueous dispersion of polyethylene copolymer with a relatively high content of acrylic acid as a compatibilizer and as an alternative medium to obtain polyethylene CNF nanocomposites. The CNF content was varied from 1 to 90wt% and the appearance, optical, thermal, mechanical and rheological properties, as well the morphology of the films were evaluated. The PE/CNF films are transparent up to 20wt% of NFC indicating a good dispersion of CNF, but a poor distribution, with PE-rich and CNF-rich regions observed by SEM. Improved mechanical properties were achieved, with a 100% and 15,900% increase in the Young's modulus with 1wt% and 90wt% NFC, respectively. The rheological behavior indicated good melt processability. According to these results, aqueous polyolefin dispersions seem to be a promising, easy and relatively fast route for obtaining cellulose/polyolefins nanocomposites with low to high contents of cellulose nanofibrils.
The effect of maleic anhydride (MA) content on morphological, thermal, thermomechanical and mechanical properties of PA6/AES/MMA-MA (66.5/28.5/5 wt%) system was investigated. In general, the simple incorporation of MMA-MA to PA6/AES system is responsible for enhancements in mechanical performance. PA6/AES/MMA-MA3% and PA6/AES/MMA5% exhibited similar morphology and final properties, indicating no MA content effect on the studied system. On the other hand, PA6/AES/ MMA-MA10% exhibited a quite different morphology and lower mechanical performance compared to the other compatibilized blends. Such unexpected behavior was not attributed to the effective maleic anhydride content in this composition, but to the reduced molar mass resulted from the excess of nonreacted MA monomer during the synthesis procedure.
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