Effect of processing conditions on thermal properties in Nylon 6/ modified clay nanocomposites

E.ERDMANN; G. FLORES; M. C. CARRERA; M. A. TORO; H. A. DESTÉFANIS

Gramado

Encuentro; X Encontro da SBPMat; 2011

Effect of processing conditions on thermal properties in Nylon 6/ modified clay nanocomposites.  E. Erdmann2, G. Flores2, M.C. Carrera2, M.A. Toro1 and H.A. Destéfanis2 1 Consejo de Investigaciones- CIUNSa, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas- UNSa  2Instituto de Investigaciones para la Industria Química- INIQUI-CONICET, Consejo de Investigaciones- CIUNSa, Facultad de Ingeniería- UNSa, Salta, Argentina.  The thermal stability of a material is usually assessed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) where the sample mass loss due to volatilization of degraded by-products is monitored in function of a temperature ramp [1]. Nanoreinforcements of polymers have strong promise in designing nanocomposites for several applications. A fairly new area of composites has emerged in which the reinforcing material has the dimensions in nanometric scale, named nanocomposites [2]. In this work two modified montmorillonites were prepared: one modified with ε-caprolactam (MMTAr2) and other with hexadecyltrymethylammonium (MMTArO2). Nylon 6 (97wt%) / modified clay (3wt%) nanocomposites were prepared using two different processing techniques, by melt processing in a mixer chamber and in a counterotating twin –screw extruder-kneader. The materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the thermal properties were studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The XRD results (Figure 1) show that the dispersion and degree of delamination depend on a proper chemical modification of the clay and an adequate preparation (processing techniques) of polymer clay composites. The figure 2 shows that N6/ MMTAr2 material has the higher thermal stability [3].   The results show that the intercalation and/or exfoliation and the thermal properties depend on the chemical treatment of the clay and the preparation type of polymer clay composites. Both are necessary to generate nanocomposites with properties suitable for specific uses.