This study was conducted to investigate the effects of component concentrations and addition order of the components, on the final properties of ternary nanocomposites composed of poly(ethylene terephthalate), organoclay, and an ethylene/methyl acrylate/glycidyl methacrylate (E-MA-GMA) terpolymer acting as an impact modifier for PET.
In this context, first, the optimum amount of the impact modifier was determined by melt compounding binary PET-terpolymer blends in a corotating twin-screw extruder. The amount of the impact modifier (5 wt. %) resulting in the highest Young&rsquo / s modulus and reasonable elongation at break was selected owing to its balanced mechanical properties. Thereafter, by using 5 wt. % terpolymer content, the effects of organically modified clay concentration and addition order of the components on ternary nanocomposites were systematically investigated.
Mechanical testing revealed that different addition orders of the materials significantly affected mechanical properties. Among the investigated addition orders, the best sequence of component addition (PI-C) was the one in which poly(ethylene terephthalate) was first compounded with E-MA-GMA. Later, this mixture was compounded with the organoclay in the subsequent run. Young' / s modulus of not extruded pure PET increased by 67% in samples with 5 wt. % E-MA-GMA plus 5 wt. % clay loading. The highest percent elongation at break was obtained as 300%, for the addition order of PI-C, with 1 wt. % clay content, which is nearly 50 fold higher than that obtained for pure PET.
In X-ray diffraction analysis, extensive layer separation associated with delamination of the original clay structure occurred in PI-C and CI-P sequences with both 1 and 3 wt. % clay contents. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that, at these conditions exfoliated structures resulted as indicated by the disappearence of any peaks due to the diffraction within the consecutive clay layers.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12605092/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 July 2004 |
| Creators | Alyamac, Elif |
| Contributors | Yilmazer, Ulku |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | M.S. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | To liberate the content for public access |
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