Dispersibility of clay and crystallization kinetics for in situ polymerized PET/pristine and modified montmorillonite nanocomposites

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

<P>Nanocomposite materials composed of poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and montmorillonite (MMT) clays were prepared by in situ polymerization. Samples consisted of PET blended with various quantities of either pristine (Na<SUP>+</SUP>-MMT) or organically modified MMT (A10-MMT). The morphology and thermal and mechanical properties were evaluated for each sample. TEM micrographs, acquired at a 20 nm resolution, provide direct evidence of exfoliation of the clay particles into the PET matrix and show the effect of the alkyl-modifier on clay dispersibility. The dispersion of PET/A10-MMT was greater than that observed for the PET/Na<SUP>+</SUP>-MMT nanocomposites. The greatest degree of exfoliation occurred for PET/A10-MMT 0.5 wt %. However, PET/Na<SUP>+</SUP>-MMT exhibited higher crystallization temperatures and rates suggesting that Na<SUP>+</SUP>-MMT is a more efficient nucleating agent. Both mechanically and thermally, PET/A10-MMT nanocomposites exhibited superior properties over pure PET. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 1022–1035, 2008</P>