Relationship between structure and rheological, mechanical and thermal properties of polylactide/Cloisite 30B nanocomposites

• Published in: Journal of applied polymer science Vol. 116; no. 3; pp. 1357 - 1365
• Main Authors: Zaidi, Lynda, Bruzaud, Stéphane, Bourmaud, Alain, Médéric, Pascal, Kaci, Mustapha, Grohens, Yves
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 05-05-2010; Wiley
• Subjects: Applied sciences; clay; Clay (material); Composites; Dispersions; Engineering Sciences; Exact sciences and technology; exfoliation; Forms of application and semi-finished materials; Materials; Mechanical properties; Nanocomposites; Nanostructure; polylactide; Polylactides; Polymer industry, paints, wood; Reproduction; Rheological properties; Technology of polymers; Thermal properties; Nanohardness; Viscoelasticity; Clay; Montmorillonite; Mechanical properties; Dispersion reinforced material; Tensile property; Experimental study; Lactone polymer; nanocomposites; Composite material; Thermal stability; Thermal properties; Lactic acid polymer; exfoliation; Morphology; Aliphatic polymer; Concentration effect; Nanocomposite; Property structure relationship; polylactide; Rheological properties
• ISSN: 0021-8995; 1097-4628; 1097-4628
• DOI: 10.1002/app.31655

Melt-state and solid state mechanical properties and thermal stability of polylactide layered silicate nanocomposites elaborated by melt intercalation were studied as a function of clay content. Wide angle X-ray scattering results, transmission electron microscopy observations, and rheological measurements indicated that the clay was finely distributed in the polylactide matrix. Contrary to nonlinear mechanical properties, thermal and linear mechanical properties were shown to increase with increasing clay fraction. The nanoindentation measurements confirm the significant increase of linear mechanical properties previously observed by tensile tests. The good correlation of linear mechanical properties at the macrometric and nanometric scales is explained by the high dispersion degree of the nanofiller in the biodegradable polymer matrix.