Polymer Engineering and Science articles from June 2004

Polymer Engineering and Science archives from June 2004

Preface.(Editorial)
June 1, 2004... This issue of Polymer Engineering and Science (PES) contains selected papers presented during the Second International Symposium on Polymeric Nanocomposites (PNCs), held at the Industrial Materials Institute (IMI) of the National Research...

Visual observation of C[O.sub.2] foaming of polypropylene-clay nanocomposites.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Several polymer-clay nanocomposites, such as polypropylene-montmorillonite (1-3), poly (lactic acid)-montmorillonite (4), and polyethylene-montmorillonite (5), have been developed. With their excellent clay-induced properties,...

Preparation and characterization of PBT nanocomposites compounded with different montmorillonites.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Thermoplastic-based nanocomposites are attracting increasing interest in academia and industry because of their unique properties. The enhancement of structural and/or functional properties is achieved with the inclusion of...

EVOH/clay nanocomposites produced by dynamic melt mixing.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Polymer melt intercalation is a promising new approach for fabricating polymer-layered silicate nanocomposites, apparently by using a conventional melt-mixing technology. The absence of solvents makes direct intercalation an...

Preparation and properties of polyolefin-clay nanocomposites.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Research in polymer-organoclay nanocomposites has progressed at an unprecedented level over the past decade, because of their potential as a low-cost alternative to high-performance composites for applications ranging from...

Extrusion processing of TPO nanocomposites.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Nanotechnology can be defined as materials or devices engineered at the molecular level. Within this category are polymer nanocomposites, which are a class of composite materials where the reinforcing filler possesses one or...

Melt compounding of different grades of polystyrene with organoclay. Part 1: compounding and characterization.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Polymer/clay nanocomposites (PNC) consist of inorganic layered clay dispersed in a polymeric matrix. To maximize the effect of nanofiller on performance, it is important that the clay is exfoliated. This may be accomplished in...

Melt compounding of different grades of polystyrene with organoclay. Part 2: rheological properties.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION General The rheological properties of polymer nanocomposites (PNC) are pertinent to processing. The first use of an organoclay in polymers was to reinforce elastomers (1). The authors combined montmorillonite (MMT)...

Preparation and thermal properties of silica-graft acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene nanocomposites.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION ABS is a copolymer of styrene and acrylonitrile modified with butadiene rubber, which acts as a filler (1). The ABS is usually chosen as a commercial material because of its excellent physical and mechanical properties, and...

Thermoset rubber/layered silicate nanocomposites. Status and future trends.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Although the terms "nanocomposite" and "nanomaterial" were introduced only recently, such materials (e.g. carbon black-filled rubbers) have been produced on the industrial scale for more than five decades (1). The concept of...

Mechanical and rheological studies on polyethylene terephthalate-montmorillonite nanocomposites.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Silicates like montmorillonite have been used as reinforcing materials for polymers owing to their high aspect ratio and unique intercalation/exfoliation characteristics. Nanocomposites of montmorillonite-polymer can be...

Structure-property relationships in polymer blend nanocomposites.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION During the past decade, polymeric materials filled with nanoscale platelets derived from layered silicates, especially montmorillonite, have been gradually receiving more attention because they show unexpectedly enhanced...

Addressing the interface in polymer-clay nanocomposites by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy on surfactant probes.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Nanodispersed particles of layered silicates (clays) can improve the mechanical properties, gas barrier behavior, thermal resistance, and flame retardance of polymers, even if they are added in amounts only as small as 2%...

Polystyrene magadiite nanocomposites.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Polymer nanocomposites have been the subject of extensive research in recent years. There is an expectation that the presence of layered silicate materials, e.g. montmorillonite, hectorite, bentonite, etc., at low loading...

Epoxy nanocomposites: analysis and kinetics of cure.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION The mechanism and kinetics of epoxy resin curing, which can involve various chemical reactions, have been widely studied (1). It is well known that, depending on the type of curing agent and curing conditions, the structure of...

Polyolefin nanocomposites: essential work of fracture analysis.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Polymer nanocomposites with natural or synthetic layered silicates have been the object of several studies in the last decade (for a detailed review, see Ref. 1). It is claimed that these nanocomposites can significantly...

Melt processing of PA-66/clay, HDPE/clay and HDPE/PA-66/clay nanocomposites.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Nanocomposites, especially polymer-layered silicate nanocomposites, represent a radical alternative to conventionally filled polymers. Polymer layered silicate nanocomposites exhibit enhanced mechanical, thermal and barrier...

Polypropylene/graphite nanocomposites by thermo-kinetic mixing.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION The development of polymer nanocomposites, by dispersing nanoscopic fillers in commodity resins, is one of the latest evolutionary steps of polymer technology (1-6). Nanofillers most often used are clay, alumina, nanotubes,...

Epoxy-phenolic novolac-montmorillonite hybrid nanocomposites: novel synthesis methods and their characteristics.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION It is easy to find electric appliances operated by printed circuit boards, such as TVs, cellular phones, and computers. These printed circuit boards are made of copper-clad laminate sheets (CCLS), which are commonly prepared...

Morphology and performance of epoxy nanocomposites modified with organoclay and rubber.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION Polymer-layered silicate nanocomposites have attracted increasing interest from both scientific and industrial perspectives because this new class of materials shows dramatic improvements in mechanical properties, barrier...

Estimation of stress for separation of two platelets.
June 1, 2004... INTRODUCTION The exfoliation of clays in polymer melts has been the subject of study since the early development of nanocomposites (1-3). Nanocomposites can be made by in situ polymerization, solution or melt processing (4). Melt processes...