Poly(butylene succinate)/ Organo-montmorillonite Nanocomposites: Effects of the Organoclay Content on Mechanical, Thermal, and Moisture Absorption Properties

Abstract

Organo-montmorillonite (OMMT)-filled poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) nanocomposites were prepared by a melt mixing process with internal mixer, at various loading levels (i.e., 2-10 wt%) of OMMT. The effects of clay loading towards the mechanical and thermal properties were investigated through various characterizations such as melt flow index (MFI), density, mechanical tests, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), heat deflection temperature (HDT), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The 2 wt% OMMT-filled PBS gave the highest strength among the rest due to higher degree of exfoliation of layered silicates in PBS matrix. Further increment in OMMT loading had reduced the strength of nanocomposites, which believed to be the result of agglomerations. This can be further confirmed by XRD and TEM. However, increment in clay loading had enhanced the modulus of nanocomposites. Higher OMMT loading tends to give higher melt viscosity because of the presence of clay particles. Moisture absorption at different conditions was performed. The results showed that higher OMMT loading and moisture level tend to increase the overall moisture uptake and also the diffusion coefficient.

Reactive processing of maleic anhydride-grafted poly(butylene succinate) and the compatibilizing effect on poly(butylene succinate) nanocomposites

“…Besides that, the higher amount of grafted MA contained in C2 is able to provide higher intercalation of the OMMT galleries, which in turn provides a better dispersion of the clay platelets. The addition of stiff reinforcements, such as OMMT was able to improve both the tensile and the flexural modulus [15][16]29]. Table 3 shows that the modulus is slightly increased after the incorporation of PBS-g-MA into the nanocomposites.…”

“…The low molecular weight of PBS-g-MA is believed to responsible for this reduction. It was reported in our previous publication that the mechanical strength and modulus were increased, after incorporation of 2 wt% OMMT into PBS to form a nanocomposite [15]. After compatibilization with C2, tensile and flexural strength of the nanocomposites are improved by 10.4 and 6.1%, respectively.…”

“…In our previous work, the effects of OMMT loading on the mechanical and rheological properties of biodegradable PBS/OMMT nanocomposites were reported. The optimum mechanical properties of PBS nanocomposites were observed at 2 wt% OMMT loading [15][16]. However, the improvement is rather limited due to the low polarity of PBS, which restricted the dispersion of clay platelets because of the absence of any strong interactions [17].…”

“…1 and 1.5 phr. At our previous research, the optimum mechanical properties of PBS nanocomposites were observed at 2 wt% OMMT loading [15][16]. Hence, as an extension of the previous study, PBS-g-MA was added into the 2 wt% OMMT filled PBS nanocomposites, to investigate the effects of initiator content on the grafting efficiency, and its compatibilizing effects on PBS nanocomposites.…”

Poly (Butylene Succinate) Scaffolds Prepared by Leaching

“…The occurrence of terminal vinyl groups is attributed to the degradation reaction of the PBS chain. 19,20 Composites, in comparison with pure PBS, do not present changes in their FTIR spectra simply because NaCl does not absorb in the IR region.…”