Effect of Modified Nanoclays on the Mechanical Properties of Thermoplastics Polymer Nanocomoposites

Abstract

Nanocomposites based on polypropylene/polyamide66 (PP/PA66) nanoblends containing organophilicmontmorillonite(OMMT) and maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP-g-MAH) were prepared by melt compounding method followed by injection molding. Two different types of nanoclayswere used in this work, i.e. DELLITE LVF (untreated): is a nano-clay deriving from a naturally occurring especially purified montmorillonite and DELLITE 67G (treated with a high content of quaternary ammonium salt (dimethyl dehydrogenated tallow ammonium). The rheological results revealed a drastic reduction in MFI with a levelling off at 5 wt.% for the nanoblends containing treated clay. The impact properties of PP/PA66 modified nanoblendswere improved significantly in the presence of treated nanoclay. The morphology of the nanocompositeswas studied using the XR diffraction (XRD). XRD results revealed the formation of nanoblends as the nanoclaywas intercalated and exfoliated.