Morphological, thermal and mechanical properties of nanoclay-filled polyethylene oxide nanocomposites

Khalid Saeed, Mohammad Ishaq, Imtiaz Ahmad, Mohammad Shakirullah, Latifullah

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Polyethylene oxide (PEO) and Nanoclay/Polyethylene oxide nanocomposite films were prepared by solution casting technique. To know about the morphology, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed which indicated that the Nanoclay was dispersed and embedded well within the polymer matrix. The polarized optical micrographs (POM) study of pure PEO showed considerable size of distinct crystalline spherulites. The size of spherulites were decreased by the incorporation of Nanoclay into the polymer matrix. It might be due to the nucleation effect of Nanoclay in Nanoclay/PEO composite which might result small size spherulites. The differential thermal calorimetry (DSC) thermograms presented that the melting temperature (Tm) of pure PEO is about 65 °C while the Tm peak of the nanocomposites were shifted towards slightly lower temperature. It was also observed that the mechanical properties (stress and young's modulus) of the Nanoclay/PEO nanocomposites were higher than pure PEO. The thermal stability of the Nanoclay/PEO composite was shifted towards higher temperature (about 25 °C higher than pure PEO) by the incorporation of 1 wt. % Nanoclay into the PEO matrix.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)699-702
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of the Chemical Society of Pakistan
Volume35
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • DSC
  • Morphology
  • Nanoclay
  • POM
  • Polyethylene oxide
  • Spherulites

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