Polymer Engineering Faculty Research

Title

Thermal decomposition of alkyl ammonium ions and its effects on surface polarity of organically treated nanoclay

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Fall 2005

Abstract

The surface free energy and surface polarity of organically modified montmorillonite clay change when exposed to elevated temperatures. This was verified in this study using contact angle measurements and Wu's harmonic-mean equation. It was observed that the surface polarity of organically modified clay measured from the values of contact angle of water and diiodomethane reduced significantly owing to thermal degradation of the organic modifier of clay, the latter was confirmed by Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy. As a consequence, nonpolar polymer, polypropylene (PP), was found to spread more on heat treated surface of organically modified clay than a polar polymer, polyamide 6 (PA6). The ramification of these phenomena on blending of PP, PA6, and organically modified clay is discussed.

Volume

46

First Page

10139

Last Page

10147

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