Effect of Adding Modified Clays on the Mechanical Behavior of PC/ABS Polymer Blend

Abstract

Bentonite clay is surface modified and incorporated into PC/ABS (70/30) polymer blend by melt mixing in concentrations of 1, 3 and 5 wt% of clay. The efficiency of the treatments is analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), x‐ray fluorescence (XRF) and x‐ray diffraction (XRD). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are used to evaluate the blends miscibility and morphology, respectively, and the mechanical behavior is analyzed by tensile tests. The methodologies used are efficient to modify the clay's surface. DSC and SEM showed that the blend remained immiscible with the addition of the fillers. The mechanical test showed an increase in the Young's modulus of the nanocomposite with addition of 1 wt% of the natural clay and a modification in the fracture behavior of the blend, from ductile to brittle, when 3 and 5 wt% of the organophilized clay are used.

Polymer Composites Based on Polycarbonate (PC) Applied to Additive Manufacturing Using Melted and Extruded Manufacturing (MEM) Technology

“…The introduced multiwalled carbon nanotubes were not functionalized or modified prior to mixing, and therefore the TGA curves for the PC and PC/0.5%CN samples showed only a slight difference. The decrease in the value of thermal stability is a reflection of the high thermal conductivity of nanotubes, which can form locally high temperatures in their larger CN clusters, which was not observed in the case of the PC polymer matrix [ 50 ]. Observing the CN-containing composite (PC/0.5%CN), it showed greater weight loss ( Table 5 ) due to the low overheating effect [ 51 ].…”

“…The obtained result is confirmed by data obtained by other scientists [ 49 , 52 , 53 ]. Maintaining the same Tg values for all tested systems during the first and second heating ( Table 6 ) indicates that neither the content nor the modification of the filler surface affects the mixability [ 50 ]. Analyzing the thermograms obtained for the composites, one can also observe the second endothermic peak at a temperature of about 122 °C, which corresponds to the melting point of the added additive.…”

Polymer Composites Based on Polycarbonate/Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene Used in Rapid Prototyping Technology

“…It has also been shown that the content of fillers in PC/ABS blends can improve thermal stability, tensile strength and elongation at break. The improvement of mechanical properties after introducing small amounts of MMT and small amounts of bentonite into the PC/ABS matrix has also been described by other scientists [ 19 , 20 ]. Researchers interested in electrically conductive composites [ 21 ] investigated the effects of graphene, carbon nanotubes and soot on the PC/ABS matrix.…”