IMPROVEMENT OF THE FINAL PROPERTIES OF POLYCAPROLACTONE BY NANO-REINFORCEMENTS INCORPORATION

L. LUDUEÑA; A. VAZQUEZ; V. ALVAREZ

Mar del Plata, Argentina

Workshop; III Encuentro Nacional de Materia Blanda; 2010

The use of biodegradable polymers such as polycaprolactone (PCL) is increasing due to environmental concerns (1). In order to become PCL in a more competitive material, clay nanoparticles can be incorporated to it. Nanocomposites have best performance than conventional microcomposites but the effect of enhancing the properties is strongly influenced by the dispersion degree of the particles inside the matrix (2). In this work several strategies were used to obtain well-dispersed nanocomposites. In all cases the clay dispersion was characterized by wide angle X-ray diffractometry (WAXS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and melt rheology.