Effect of clay modification on the dynamic mechanical and dielectric properties of PMMA nanocomposites via melt blending

Abstract

AbstractThe dynamic mechanical and dielectric properties of poly(methyl methacrylate)/ clay nanocomposites (PCNs) prepared with melt blending was studied in terms of clay modification and nanoscale dispersion. The pristine clay was modified via various routes, including PMMA concentrates from in situ polymerization and POP-diamine intercalation. Partially exfoliated clay layers were uniformly dispersed in the nanocomposites as evidenced from x-ray diffraction study. The subglass β relaxation, the segmental α relaxation, and the α β-merging process above Tg were observed in the nanocomposites from the dielectric analysis. Compared to neat PMMA, with only 5 wt% clay loading, the modified PCN materials exhibit higher glass-transition temperatures and higher dynamic storage moduli, which was attributed to the polymer chain tethering and confinement effect. Significant increase in dielectric permittivity’s and losses due to interfacial polarization and ionic conduction were observed for the PCNs. The intensity of the interfacial polarization process increases with the dispersion degree of clay layers and hence the relaxation process can be assigned to the space charge polarization of the ionic species in the clay intergalleries.