Study of Morphological and Mechanical Properties of PBT/PTT Blends and Their Nanocomposites and Their Correlation

Abstract

Impact modified PBT/PTT blends based nanocomposites having organoclay content varying from 2, 3 and 5 wt% were prepared using corotating twin-screw extruder. Organoclay (Cloisite 30B) was used as nanofiller. Ultra-low-density polyethylene-grafted glycidyl methacrylate (ULDPE-g-GMA) was used as an impact modifier to toughen the polymeric matrices. In all the prepared nanocomposites, the amount of impact modifier (ULDPE-g-GMA) remains constant, i.e., 2 wt%. Izod impact testing showed that only 2 wt% impact modifier (ULDPE-g-GMA) was enough to improve the notched Izod impact strength of the neat PBT and neat PTT by 85.6 and 98.6 %, respectively. It shows an excellent toughening of PBT and PTT with ULDPE- g-GMA rubber. It was further found that the incorporation of only 3 wt% organoclay significantly improved the tensile strength, tensile modulus values of PBT/PTT blends. The result of FEG-SEM indicated that nanocomposite with 3 wt% organoclay in PBT/PTT/2wt% ULDPE-g-GMA did not show phase separation. It showed that 3 wt% organoclay was homogeneously dispersed in impact modified PBT/PTT blends based nanocomposites. POM studies revealed that the well-defined spherulites are present in neat PBT and neat PTT when $$T_{\mathrm{c}}$$ was 205 $${^{\circ }}$$ C.