Polypropylene Nanocomposite Film: A Critical Evaluation on the Effect of Nanoclay on the Mechanical, Thermal, and Morphological Behavior

Polypropylene (PP)/clay nanocomposites prepared by melt blending technique using different percentages of clay with and without maleic anhydride grafted PP (MA-PP) were studied. The intercalated and exfoliated structure of nanocomposites was characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Because of the typical intercalated and exfoliated structure, the tensile modulus of the nanocomposites were improved significantly as compared to virgin PP. The viscoelastic behavior of the nanocomposites was studied by dynamical mechanical analysis (DMA) and the results showed that with the addition of treated clay to PP there was substantial improvement in storage modulus increases. The thermal stability and crystallization of the PP nanocomposites as studied by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) were also improved significantly compared to PP. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 115: 3463-3473, 2010