Abstract
This paper is aiming to analyze the effects of electron beam irradiation on the mechanical properties and structural–morphology of nano-sized montmorillonite (MMT) added polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) composite. MMT particles were added to the PVOH matrix at various loading level that ranges from 0.5 to 4.5phr MMT and electron beam irradiated with dosages ranging from 6 to 36kGy. The results showed that tensile strength of MMT added PVOH composites at 1.5 and 2.5phr MMT were observed marginally higher compare to neat PVOH when irradiation dosages increased to 26kGy. However, when the concentration of MMT exceeded 2.5phr, the application of irradiation seems to cause adverse effect to the PVOH–MMT composite. Besides, according to the X-ray diffraction analysis, the application of low irradiation dosage (⩽16kGy) has significantly enhanced the intercalation effect of MMT particles at high loading (4.5phr) in PVOH matrix. This also found to be consistent with the scanning electron microscopy observation where the dispersion of MMT particles in PVOH matrix was noted to be more homogeneous than non-irradiated samples. Further increment in irradiation dosage up to 36kGy has significantly reduced the crystallinity which indicates the higher radiation energy could rupture the crystallite structures in PVOH matrix.
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