PP/clay composites with different dispersions, namely, exfoliated dispersion, intercalated dispersion and agglomerates and particle-like dispersion, were prepared by direct melt intercalation or compounding. The effect of clay dispersion on the crystallization and morphology of PP was investigated via PLM, SAXS and DSC. Experimental results show that exfoliated clay layers are much more efficient than intercalated clay and agglomerates of clay in serving as nucleation agent due to the nano-scale dispersion of clay, resulting in a dramatic decrease in crystal size (lamellar thickness and spherulites) and an increase of crystallization temperature and crystallization rate. On the other hand, a decrease of melting temperature and crystallinity was also observed in PP/clay composites with exfoliated dispersion, due to the strong interaction between PP and clay. Compared with exfoliated clay layers, the intercalated clay layers have a less important effect on the crystallization and crystal morphology. No effect is seen for samples with agglomerates and particle-like dispersion, in regard to melting temperature, crystallization temperature, crystal thickness and crystallinity.
Reinforcement property of structural silicon sealant as a function of the size and loading of nano CaCO 3 particles has been investigated by mechanical measurement and DMA experiments. The tensile strength and elongation at break of silicone sealant were found greatly enhanced by nano CaCO 3 particles. The smaller the particle size, the higher the tensile strength and the elongation will be. The storage modulus is also remarkably increased with the increasing of CaCO 3 loading and decreasing of CaCO 3 particle sizes, as revealed by DAM. Two relaxation peaks are seen for silicon sealant. One is around 153 K, corresponding to the glass transition temperature(T g), and the other is around 233 K, corresponding to the melting temperature(T m). Both T g and T m increase with the increasing of CaCO 3 loading and decreasing of CaCO 3 particle sizes. DMA results suggest that the interaction between nano CaCO 3 particles and silicon sealant is quite strong. The molecular motion of silicon sealant is highly limited by the dispersed nano CaCO 3 particles.
Polyamide 11 (PA 11) is a widely used polyamide resin, but its application is limited since the impact properties, tensile strength, and thermal properties are not very satisfactory for industrial application. In order to improve the mechanical properties of PA 11, in this paper, the preparation of polyamide 11/clay nanocomposites (PACN) via in-situ intercalated polymerization was reported. SEM, TEM and XRD were employed to investigate the dispersion of clay sheet in the matrix. The results indicate that clay layers were homogeneously dispersed in PA11 matrix on a nano-scale, and an exfoliated and intercalated structure co-existed in the composites. The mechanical and thermal properties of the obtained nanocomposites were improved to certain extent by the addition of clay.
It has been well known that fluorinated polyurethanes exhibit uniquely low surface energy, biocompatibility and biostability, thermal and oxidative stability and nonsticking behavior. Consequently, these polymers have attracted considerable interest. However, the mechanical properties of fluorinated polyurethanes usually decline with increasing fluorine contents. The blending of fluorinated polyurethanes with normal polyurethane was carried out to achieve balanced mechanical and surface properties. It was found that polyurethane with good mechanical properties and low surface energy can be obtained by adding a small amount of fluorinated polyurethane. The fluorinated side chains can easily migrate to uppermost surfaces of the blends untill the fluorine level at the surface becomes almost saturated. It has been shown from contact angle, XPS and AFM measurements that only as little as 0.34 wt% of fluorine level is enough to produce a surface saturated with fluorine, and the fluorine level at the uppermost surface is one hundred times higher than that in the blend bulk. The final outer surface structures of the polyurethane blend were independent of the content of the fluorinated polyurethane in the blends due to the surfaces saturated by fluorine.
Metallocene-catalyzed short chain branched polyethylene (SCBPE) was blended with LDPE, HDPE, PS, EPDM and iPP in the weight proportions of 80 and 20. The crystallization and mechanical properties of these blends were studied by PLM, DSC and DMA. It has been observed in PLM that SCBPE/LDPE, SCBPE/HDPE and SCBPE/EPDM can form band spherulites whose band width and size are both smaller than that of the pure SCBPE. Tiny crystallites are observed in the completely immiscible SCBPE/PS blend. The crystallites in SCBPE/iPP are very small and only irregular spherulites are seen. The crystallization kinetics and mechanical properties of SCBPE are greatly affected by the second polyolefin, but in a different way, depending on the phase behavior and the modulus of the second components. SCBPE may be phase miscible in the melt with HDPE, LDPE and EPDM and co-crystallize together with HDPE or LDPE during cooling. A big change of crystal morphology and crystallization kinetics is seen in SCBPE/iPP blend compared with pure SCBPE and the lowest tandelta is also seen for this system. DMA results show that the tensile modulus of the blends has nothing to do with phase behavior, but only depends on the modulus of the second component.
The surface phase separated structure of polyurethanes is always desired due to the advantage of better biocompatibility, compared with the homogeneous one. The key issue is how to control and characterize the surface morphology. In this work, we report the uppermost surface morphology of fluorinated poly(carbonate urethane)s with fluorinated side chains attached to hard segments as studied by AFM, XPS and contact angle measurement. A self-assembled micro-domain with the fluorinated side chain standing up on the uppermost surface has been proposed for polyurethane with higher fluorinated content, based on the result obtained.
