Effect of clay concentration on the permeability and wear behavior of polypropylene/clay Nanocomposites

MARÍA FERNANDA HORST; WALTER TUCKART; LILIANA DEL BLANCO; MARCELO D. FAILLA; LIDIA M. QUINZANI

JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE

JOHN WILEY & SONS INC

Año: 2012 p. 495 - 502

0021-8995

ABSTRACT: The permeability and wear behavior ofnanocomposites based on polypropylene (PP), polypropyl-ene grafted with maleic anhydride (PPg), and montmoril-lonite (MMT) have been studied. Clay concentrations of2–15 wt % and a constant PPg:MMT ratio of 3 : 1 wereconsidered. The wear behavior of all materials was studiedusing the ‘‘pin-on-disc’’ technique. The results indicatethat, for given clay concentration, the wear resistancedecreases with applied load and that the composites are 20 times more resistant than their matrices. Moreover,the wear rate of the nanocomposites decreases as the clayconcentration increases while that of the correspondingmatrices increases. The PP, matrices, and composites displaysimilar values of friction coefficient that neither changes withnormal load. Additionally, the oxygen permeability of PP isgradually reduced by the increase of both clay and PPg con-centration, being the effect of the filler tactoids much largerthan that of the compatibilizer