A new ultrasonication dispersion – microwave cure (UD-MC) method for preparing highly exfoliated layered epoxy/clay nanocomposites was developed. The process was divided into two consecutive stages. In the first stage, the epoxy and organoclay were mixed by high stirring and ultrasonication in the presence of acetone. In the second stage, the mixture of epoxy and organoclay was cured with microwave of 400W and postcured at 135°C. The microstructure of the nanocomposites was characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results indicated that the basal spacing of the organoclay particles in the epoxy/clay mixture was significantly enlarged, up to around 75Å afther the ultrasonic treatment. The layered clay was highly exfoliated under the microwave energy; and the basal spacing of nanolayers was more than 90Å.
The blends of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) with maleated styrene-butylene-co-ethylene-styrene copolymer (SEBS-g-MA) were prepared by melt blending. Their morphologies and crystallization behavior were investigated. Morphology observation shows the well-dispersed phase of SEBS-g-MA in PTT matrix and the partical size of SEBS-g-MA increased as the content of SEBS-g-MA increasing. Differential scanning colorimetry(DSC) experiments showed that the melting point of pure PTT and their blends was almost constant. Addition of 5-30wt% SEBS-g-MA in blends increased crystallization points of PTT phase and the crystallinity of the blends were higher than that of PTT.
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