Studies of biodegradable polymers-clay nanocomposites, effect of different clay modifiers

A. BIANCHI; JUNCIEL, LUIS DANIEL; J. P. CORREA-AGUIRRE; A, BOTANA

Mar del Plata

Congreso; X Reunión anual de la Asosiación Argentina de Cristalografía 2014; 2014

STUDIES OF BIODEGRADABLE POLYMERS-CLAY NANOCOMPOSITES, EFFECT OF DIFFERENT CLAY MODIFIERSAna E. Bianchia,b,*, Luis D. Junciela.,b , Juan P. Correa-Aguirrec,d, Adrian Botanac.d, Patricia Eisenberc,d, Gustavo A. Echeverríaa,b, Rosa M. Torres-Sancheze y Graciela Puntea a IFLP (CCT-La Plata.) Dep. Física. Fac. Ciencias Exactas, UNLP. 115 y 49,  (1900) La Plata. Argentina. b Fac. de Ingeniería, UNLP. La Plata. 1 y 47, (1900) La Plata, Argentinac INTI Plásticos, Av. Gral. Paz 5445 (1650), San Martín, BA, Argentina; d 3iA, UNSAM, Belgrano 3563 (1650), San Martín, Argentina e CETMIC (CCT-La Plata). Camino Centenario y 506, (1897), M.B. Gonnet, BA, Argentina* bianchi@fisica.unlp.edu.arTo avoid ecological problems induced by conventional plastics low degradation rates, a great effort has been dedicated to develop eco-friendly new materials. Within this field, biodegradable polymers and blends of them filled with natural minerals in the form of nanoparticles at low loading (< 5vol %) lead to composites with highly improved properties like stiffness, thermal stability, decreased flammability and gas-barrier properties. Natural clay minerals are a good choice to this end [for a review see 1]. Present work is part of a project aimed to use functionalized Patagonian montmorillonite (MMT) to reinforce films of ambient friendly polymers like polihydroxybutirate (PHB) and polycaprolactone (PCL) to obtain nanocomposites. To this end several studies have been performed producing composites of PCL with different raw and organo modified MMT, either commercial or Patagonian. We have found that composites films produced by addition of commercial organo MMT (OMMT) to PCL showed better characteristics than those observed in films obtained by addition of raw MMT to PCL [2,3]. To get experience on the influence of different characteristics of the OMMT on the composites properties in this work we present the results of the investigation of the microestructural characteristics of film composites produced by addition of 3 commercial OMMT (see Table 1) to blends of PCL and PHB. Table 1- Organoclays employed and interlaminar distance.Biodegradable nanocomposite films were obtained using a discontinuous Brabender mixer at 448K and thermo compression at that temperature and 100Pa. SAXS and WAXS data analysis indicated different extents of clay dispersion depending on the modifier and the proportion of each polymer employed. Dielectric measurements were performed at room temperature as function of frequency in a Solartron 1260. Variations of relative dielectric constant and dielectric loss are analyzed as function of the OMMT characteristics and dispersion.Acknowledgements: UNLP (Project 11/X-577); CONICET (PIP0985), Argentine: LNLS, Brazil; ANPCyT-Mincyt, Argentina, and  CONICyT, Chile (PICT2011 2690. [1] A. P. Kumar et al. Progress in Polymer Science 34 (2009) 479.[2] A. Botana et al. Applied Clay Science 47 (2010) 263.[3] L. Junciel et al. Segunda Jornada de Investigación y Transferencia, realizado en la Facultad de Ingeniería de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata (2013), p.713. UNLP. http://www.ing.unlp.edu.ar/investigacion/jornadas2013.