Compatibilization level effects on the structure and mechanical properties of rubber‐modified polyamide‐6/clay nanocomposites

Abstract

Exfoliated polyamide‐6 (PA6)/organically modified montmorillonite clay (OMMT) nanocomposites (PNs) were modified with partially maleinized styrene–ethylene/butadiene–styrene triblock copolymers (SEBS) at three maleinization levels in an attempt to link in these materials high toughness with appropriate small‐strain and fracture tensile properties. OMMT stayed only in the PA6 matrix, and no preferential location in the matrix/rubber interphase was observed. The increased dispersed phase size upon the addition of OMMT was attributed to interactions between maleic anhydride (MA) functionalized SEBS and the surfactant of OMMT. The rubber particle size generally decreased when the MA content of SEBS increased, and this indicated compatibilization. The subsequent good adhesion led to tough nanocomposites across a wide range of both strain rates and fracture modes. As the critical interparticle distance (τc) decreased with the MA content, and the other parameters that could influence the surface‐to‐surface mean interparticle distance did not change, it is proposed that in these PNs higher adhesion leads to a smaller τc value. Finally, the presence in the matrix of a nanostructured clay makes the rubber content necessary for the toughness jump to increase and τc to decrease. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 3611–3620, 2005

Stiffening of poly(ethylene terephthalate) by means of polyamide 6 nanocomposite fibers produced during processing

“…The rest of the compositions showed similar plots. As can be seen, no peak was seen in the case of the Ncs indicating a full exfoliation of the OMMT, which is an usual result in PA6/I30 Ncs [1,4,14]. A TEM micrograph of the 20-5 Nc is shown in Fig.…”

“…The organoclay used was Nanomer I30 which is known [13,14] to be able to effectively exfoliate in PA6, and the processing method was managed to facilitate the presence of the organoclay in the PA6 phase. The phase behaviour of the systems was studied by both differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and dynamic-mechanical analysis (DMA), and their morphology by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).…”

Organoclay localization in polyamide 6/ethylene-butene copolymer grafted maleic anhydride blends: the effect of different types of organoclay

“…Since nanoclay addition increases the matrix viscosity because of the interaction between nanoclay platelets and the polyamide chains, the viscosity ratio of the dispersed phase to the matrix phase decreases. Thus droplets show more deformation and reach a smaller size [31]. On the other hand, organoclay may prevent the reaction between amine end groups of polyamide and maleic anhydride groups of EBg-MAH to decrease the adhesion between two phases which leads to formation of larger droplets [23].…”

Polyamide blend-based nanocomposites: A review

“…Polymer blend nanocomposites may lead to a new type of high performance material that combines the advantages of polymer blends and the merits of polymer nanocomposites [10,11]. Consequently, two types of PA blend-based nanocomposite have been studied by numerous researchers, i.e., PA nanocomposites prepared by thermoplastic-thermoplastic blending and rubber (both functionalized and un-functionalized) modification approaches: (a) PA nanocomposites with a matrix composed of a blend of two thermoplastics (for example, PA6/PP/nanoclay [1,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18], PA6/polyimide/ organoclay [19]; PA6/thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer (TLCP)/organoclay [20]; Nylon 66/Nylon 6/organoclay [21]; PA6/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS)/multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) [4,22]; PA6/low density polyethylene (LDPE)/nanoclay [23]; PA6/LDPE/organoclay [24]; polyamide 12 (PA12)/PP/boehmite alumina nanoparticles [25]; PA6/polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)/functionalized single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) [26]; PA6/polystyrene (PS)/nanoclay [27]; PA6/PS/nanosilica [28]) (b) PA nanocomposites toughened by a rubber or rubber-modified PA6 nanocomposites (for example, PA6/maleated styrene-ethylene butylenestyrene (SEBS-g-MA)/montmorillonite [29]; PA6/maleinized ethylene-propylene-rubber (mEPR)/nanoclay [30]; PA6/ethylene-co-propylene maleated rubber/organoclay [31]; PA6/silicone rubber/clay [32]; PA66/SEBS-g-MA/organoclay [33]; PA6/metallocene ethylene-polypropylene-diene copolymer/maleated ethylenepolypropylene-diene copolymer (EPDM-g-MA)/ nanoclay [34]; PA6/maleinized ethylene propylene-diene monomer (mEPDM)/nanoclay [35]; PA6/maleinized styrene-ethylene-butylenestyrene (mSEBS)/nanoclay [36][37][38]; PA6/ maleated ethylene-propylene-diene rubber (EPDM-g-MA)/organoclay …”