Effect of the functionalizing agent in polypropylene/clay nanocomposites prepared by reactive mixing

JULIE MERCHÁN SANDOVAL; LIDIA M. QUINZANI; MARCELO. D. FAILLA

Buenos Aires

Conferencia; 6th International Conference on Science and Technology of Composite Materials, COMAT; 2015

Nanocomposites of polypropylene (PP) and an organophilic montmorillonite (o-MMT) were produced by reactive mixing in order to functionalize the polymer while they are being mixed in molten state. Maleic anhydride and n-butyl acrylate were used as functionalizing agents applying two different mixing proceedings. The morphological structure, and rheological and barrier properties are analyzed for given concentrations of o-MMT, functionalizing agent and peroxide. According to the re-sults, the mixing procedure has a higher effect on the properties of nanocomposites than the functionalizing agent itself. It was also observed that, secondary reactions occur between the functionalizing agents and the clay and/or its modifier. N-butyl acrylate, which is studied as a novel agent in the generation of PP nanocomposites, generates intercalated/exfoliated nanocomposites with good barrier properties.