Dynamic Mechanical Characterization of LLDPE/Clay Nanocomposite

Abstract

In this study the nanocomposite made of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and organo modified MMT (O-MMT) was processed by melt compounding at different nanoclay loading using a co-rotating twin-screw extruder. The dynamic mechanical properties of pure LLDPE were compared with those of LLDPE/O-MMT nanocomposite using dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA).The results showed that the addition of nanoclay has improved the storage modulus E´ and loss modulus E´´of the linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE)/O-MMT nanocomposites. It was found that at low temperatures (-50 °C), the storage modulus of the nanocomposite increased by 3% and 22% with the addition of 1 and 5 wt % of O-MMT respectively. At high temperature (50°C), the storage modulus E´ increased by 3.5 % and 56.7 % when 1 and 5 wt% of O-MMT were added, respectively. This remarkable improvement in the thermal-mechanical properties of this nanocomposite material at low and high temperature was caused by the strong interactions between the interface of exfoliated/intercalated nanoclay layers and the polymer matrix.