Structure and properties of kaolinite intercalated with potassium acetate and their nanocomposites with polyamide 1010

Abstract

The intercalation complex marked as KAA was a modified kaolinite (KA) with potassium acetate as an intercalating agent, which was used as a reinforcement to prepare polyamide 1010 (PA1010) matrix nanocomposites (PKAA) by melt compounding. X-Ray diffraction results indicated that the interlayer basal spacing increased from 0.720 nm (KA) to 1.411 nm (KAA), after an intercalation process with an intercalation ratio of 99.7%. The nanocomposite with 2 wt% KAA exhibited the best comprehensive mechanical properties, including tensile strength, elongation at break, and notched impact strength. Furthermore, the thermal performance of these nanocomposites could be effectively improved, which manifested as the elevated glass transition temperature and thermal decomposition temperature in the test results of the dynamic mechanical thermal analysis and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The melting point and crystallization behavior of PKAA were also increased due to results from the differential scanning calorimetry. Besides, the bilayer inserting model was simulated by Materials Studios software to further understand the structure-function relationship of PKAA.