Dispersion and Nucleating Effects of Clay Fillers in Nanocomposite Polymer Films

Published

December 1, 2001

Author(s)

V Ferreiro, G Schmidt, Charles C. Han, Alamgir Karim

Abstract

Nanocomposite polymeric materials offer unique properties such as mechanical, electrical, thermal, etc. Such property enhancements are induced not only by the physical presence of the filler but also by the interaction of the polymer with the filler and the dispersion state of the filler. In the first section of the paper, we investigate the case of well dispersed laponite (synthetic clay) filler particles. Thin films cast from solutions of polyethylene-oxide (PEO)-laponite on glass substrates were prepared. Drying of the cast polymer-clay solutions produce transparent nanocomposite films and the laponite dispersion state appears to be trapped in the thin films. An optimal dispersion is obtained for a particular PEO/laponite ratio (r), that we find to be equal to r {approximately equal to} 0.66. In a latter section of the paper, we investigate the case of weakly dispersed clay fillers. We find that weakly dispersed or stacked clay fillers can be used as nucleating agents (seed crystallization) in the crystallization of a clay-filled polymer blend (PEO/PMMA /Montmorillonite) film. As a function of increasing clay concentration, we make the novel observations that the number of dendritic branches increase substantially and tend to curl.

Proceedings Title

Polymer and Nanocomposites Symposium | | Synthesis, Characterization, and Modeling | American Chemical Society

Volume

No. 804

Conference Dates

July 1, 2000

Conference Title

ACS Symposium Series

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

AFM, blend, clay, dendrite, fillers, network, nucleation, thin-film

Citation

Ferreiro, V. , Schmidt, G. , Han, C. and Karim, A. (2001), Dispersion and Nucleating Effects of Clay Fillers in Nanocomposite Polymer Films, Polymer and Nanocomposites Symposium | | Synthesis, Characterization, and Modeling | American Chemical Society, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=851803 (Accessed March 13, 2025)