Nanoclay and PMMA ternary granule: influence on mechanical and thermal properties of PVC

Document Type : Original Paper

Authors

1 Islamic Azad Shahrood Branch

2 Chemical Engineering Group, Faculty of Engineering, Tehran University

3 Department of Engineering, Shahrood Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrood, Iran

Abstract

This study aims to compare the mechanical and thermal properties of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC)/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) blends, PVC/nanoclay binary composites and PVC/nanoclay/PMMA ternary composites. Also, the influence of component mixture sequences on the flexural strength of ternary composites is studied. Polymer blending is one of the most important ways for the development of new polymeric materials. On the other hand, using clay minerals it to have an effect because of their unique crystal structure and properties. Two component mixture patterns are investigated during the direct melting method PVC, including (a) an addition of PMMA granule then an addition of nanoclay, (b) a direct mixing of PVC and nanoclay then an addition of PMMA granule. The results indicate that using the component mixture pattern which nanoclay is mixed to PVC compound at first time (second pattern), has the best result for flexural strength of ternary composites. X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) results demonstrate that PMMA granule in ternary composites causes no good interaction of nanoclay with PVC matrix. Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) indicates that there is a decreasing in the thermal stability of samples containing PMMA granule compared to the both binary composite and virgin PVC.

Keywords