Abstract
Melt-compounding is a technique which has been commonly used for producing polymer–clay nanocomposites with enhanced mechanical, thermal, and physical properties. Twin-screw extruders have been found to effectively exfoliate the clay platelets due to their high shear intensity. However, concerns about polymer and organoclay degradation have been raised in some studies. In this investigation, a composite of nylon 6–Cloisite 30B with fully exfoliated and well-dispersed clay particles was produced using a single-screw extruder and hence with limited polymer degradation. We show that processing temperature plays an important role in enhancing dispersion and that reprocessing at a higher temperature can enhance both dispersion and exfoliation and thus can result in composites with superior properties. We attempt to elucidate how the change in melt viscosity—coupled with the change in processing temperature—affects clay exfoliation and dispersion.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahmadi SJ, Huang YD, Li W (2004) J Mater Sci 39:1919. doi:10.1023/B:JMSC.0000017753.90222.96
Chen B (2004) Br Ceram Trans 103:241
Giannelis EP (1996) Adv Mater 8:29
Giannelis EP (1998) Appl Organomet Chem 12:675
LeBaron PC, Wang Z, Pinnavaia TJ (1999) Appl Clay Sci 15:11
Maniar KK (2004) Polym Plast Technol 43:427
Usuki A, Hasegawa N, Kato M (2005) Adv Polym Sci 179:135
Cho JW, Paul DR (2001) Polymer 42:1083
Dennis HR, Hunter DL, Chang D, Kim S, White JL, Cho JW, Paul DR (2001) Polymer 42:9513
Fornes TD, Yoon PJ, Keskkula H, Paul DR (2001) Polymer 42:09929
Yang K, Ozisik R (2006) Polymer 47:2849
Russo GM, Nicolais V, Maio LD, Montesano S, Incarnato L (2007) Polym Degrad Stab 92:1925
Loo LS, Gleason KK (2004) Polymer 45:5933
Shen L, Tjiu WC, Liu T (2005) Polymer 46:11969
Su KH, Lin JH, Lin CC (2007) J Mater Process Technol 192–193:532
Lozano-González J, Rodriguez-Hernandez T, Gonzalez-De Los Santos EA, Villalpando-Olmos J (2000) J Appl Polym Sci 76:6851
Ramadan AR, Esawi AMK, Abdel Gawad A (2010) Appl Clay Sci 47:196
Zhou L, Chen H, Jiang X, Lu F, Zhou Y, Yin W, Ji X (2009) J Colloid Interface Sci 332:16
Joshi GV, Patel HA, Kevadiya BD, Bajaj HC (2009) Appl Clay Sci 45:248
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Abdel Gawad, A., Esawi, A.M.K. & Ramadan, A.R. Structure and properties of nylon 6–clay nanocomposites: effect of temperature and reprocessing. J Mater Sci 45, 6677–6684 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-010-4760-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-010-4760-5