Abstract
In the present study, silver (Ag) nanoparticles and maleic anhydride-grafted polyolefin elastomer (MAH-g-POE) were used as enhancement additives to improve the performance of the polyoxymethylene (POM) homopolymer. Specifically, the POM/Ag/MAH-g-POE ternary nanocomposites with varying Ag nanoparticles and MAH-g-POE contents were prepared by a melt mixing method. The effects of the additives on the microstructure, thermal stability, crystallization behavior, mechanical properties, and dynamic mechanical thermal properties of the ternary nanocomposites were studied. It was found that the MAH-g-POE played a role in the bridging of the Ag nanoparticles and POM matrix and improved the interfacial adhesion between the Ag nanoparticles and POM matrix, owing to the good compatibility between Ag/MAH-g-POE and the POM matrix. Moreover, it was found that the combined addition of Ag nanoparticles and MAH-g-POE significantly enhanced the thermal stability, crystallization properties, and mechanical properties of the POM/Ag/MAH-g-POE ternary nanocomposites. When the Ag/MAH-g-POE content was 1 wt.%, the tensile strength reached the maximum value of 54.78 MPa. In addition, when the Ag/MAH-g-POE content increased to 15wt.%, the elongation at break reached the maximum value of 64.02%. However, when the Ag/MAH-g-POE content further increased to 20 wt.%, the elongation at break decreased again, which could be attributed to the aggregation of excessive Ag nanoparticles forming local defects in the POM/Ag/MAH-g-POE ternary nanocomposites. Furthermore, when the Ag/MAH-g-POE content was 20 wt.%, the maximum decomposition temperature of POM/Ag/MAH-g-POE ternary nanocomposites was 398.22 °C, which was 71.39 °C higher than that of pure POM. However, compared with POM, the storage modulus of POM/Ag/MAH-g-POE ternary nanocomposites decreased with the Ag/MAH-g-POE content, because the MAH-g-POE elastomer could reduce the rigidity of POM.
Highlights
Polyoxymethylene (POM) is one of the fastest growing engineering semicrystalline thermoplastics in the world owing to its high tensile strength, high rigidity, low friction coefficient, and impact, thermal, chemical, and solvent resistance [1,2,3]
We suggest that the MAHg-polyolefin elastomer (POE) plays a role in the bridging of the Ag nanoparticles and POM, which improved the interfacial adhesion between the Ag nanoparticles and POM matrix
With the increase in Ag/MAH-g-POE content from 1 to 20 wt.%, the number and size of pores in POM/Ag/MAH-g-POE nanocomposites increased, and the pores were well dispersed in the POM matrix, which indicates that Ag/MAH-g-POE had a good compatibility with POM
Summary
Polyoxymethylene (POM) is one of the fastest growing engineering semicrystalline thermoplastics in the world owing to its high tensile strength, high rigidity, low friction coefficient, and impact, thermal, chemical, and solvent resistance [1,2,3]. Rozilah produced antibacterial sugar palm starch biopolymer composite films by the solution casting method and determined the mechanical and physicochemical properties [22] They pointed out that when the addition of Ag NPs was 3 wt.%, the highest elongation of the biopolymer composites film to rupture was 415%, and the tensile strength increased to 408 kPa. On the other hand, polyolefin elastomer (POE) is a thermoplastic elastomer with uniform short-chain branches [23].
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