Abstract
Melt compounding with a twin-screw extruder was used to prepare exfoliated polypropylene (PP) nanocomposites of organophilic montmorillonite clay compatibilized with maletaed polypropylene (PPgMA). Several grades of PPgMAs of different melt flow indices (MI) and molecular masses were analyzed for the effectiveness of melt exfoliation of organoclay. The extent of clay exfoliation in the nanocomposites was confirmed by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. It was found that the nanoscale dimensions of the dispersed clay platelets led to significantly increased oscillatory shear flow properties. At a clay loading of 5%(mass fraction), which is much smaller than that of conventional macrocomposites, the hybrid materials exhibited unbound increase of shear viscosity at low frequencies; and nonterminal low-frequency plateau in the linear storage modulus. The relative dynamic properties revealed a systematic trend with the state of exfoliation and dispersion in the nanocomposites.
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