Morphological and Rheological Properties of Poly(Trimethylene Terephthalate)/Maleic Anhydride Grafted Poly (Ethylene-Octene)/Organoclay Ternary Nanocomposite

Abstract

Poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT)/poly(ethylene-octene) POE-g-MA/organoclay ternary nanocomposites were prepared using melt blending in order to simultaneously improve the toughness and stiffness of PTT. The phase morphology and dispersion of organoclay were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The melt rheological behavior of the ternary nanocomposites was determined by plate/plate rheological measurements. XRD and TEM analysis indicated that the ternary nanocomposites contained exfoliated nanoparticle when a small amount of organoclay (1 part per hundred) was added. The high aspect ratio of the organoclay platelets induced the average size of the dispersed domain to become smaller. Melt rheological studies revealed that the ternary nanocomposites exhibited strong shear thinning behavior and showed good processability.

Keywords:

• morphology
• nanocomposite
• PTT/POE-g-MA blend
• rheological properties