Poly (lactic acid) (PLA)‐based compounds are widely used in thin‐film and food packaging industries. Herein, PLA/ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA)/nanoclay nanocomposites are prepared in various compositions by melt blending. The gas permeability against N2, CO2, and O2 gases is determined as a function of composition and morphology of the nanocomposites. Inclusion of high aspect ratio of platelet‐like nanoclay to the blend reduces the gas diffusion. The best barrier properties against all gases is observed on introducing 5 wt% poly(ethylene/n‐butyl acrylate glycidyl methacrylate) copolymer as compatibilizer to the PLA/EVA/nanoclay (75/25/5) system. The scanning and transmission electron microscopic analyses and wide‐angle X‐ray scattering studies reveal that inclusion of compatibilizer to the filled‐blends improves the blend morphology, dispersion state, and intercalation level of clay platelets which are preferably localized at the interface of the blend. Analysis of selectivity parameter (α) shows the lowest O2 permeability and the highest αCO2/N2 and αO2/N2 values for the compatibilized filled‐blend (75/25/5/5). In situ aspect ratio of clay and the degree of intercalation are theoretically evaluated based on the permeability data using various empirical models. It is found that the compatibilized filled‐blend has the highest aspect ratio and intercalation level that are responsible for the optimum perm‐selectivity performance.
Polyamide 6 (PA6) as a cost‐effective polar polymer and barium titanate (BT) as piezoelectric ceramic nanofiller were melt compounded with poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) matrix to enhance the β electroactive phase. A series of samples with two blending ratios of PVDF/PA6 (90/10 and 70/30 [wt%/wt%]) each containing 1, 3, and 5 wt% of BT were prepared. The SEM results revealed that the addition of BT to the neat blends refined the biphasic morphology which is mainly due to selective localization of BTs in PA6 dispersed phase as confirmed by TEM observation and wetting parameter predictions. The EDX analysis demonstrated a uniform distribution of BT nanoparticles in the filled systems. FTIR and XRD results showed that β content increased as a result of blending while the α phase was suppressed. The BT nanoparticles inclusion to the blends showed a synergistic effect on the β‐polymorph content. These results in combination with the data derived from DSC (indicating reduction of the total crystallinity) complement the idea of β enhancement by the addition of BT nanoparticles and PA6 into PVDF.
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