TY - JOUR
T1 - Quantitative characterization of clay dispersion in polymer-clay nanocomposites
AU - Xie, Shaobo
AU - Harkin-Jones, Eileen
AU - Shen, Yucai
AU - Hill, Janet
AU - Hornsby, Peter
AU - McAfee, Marion
AU - McNally, Tony
AU - Patel, Raj
AU - Benkreira, Hadj
AU - Coates, Phil
PY - 2011/3
Y1 - 2011/3
N2 - A novel methodology has been developed to describe the microstructure of polymer-clay nanocomposites quantitatively. It builds on the image analyses of transmission electron microscopy and optical microscopy micrographs, and two parameters, degree of dispersion and mean interparticle distance per unit volume of clay, are proposed to characterize the level of clay dispersion. It provides insights into the 'real' clay dispersion using a combination of both microscopical and macroscopical aspects.
AB - A novel methodology has been developed to describe the microstructure of polymer-clay nanocomposites quantitatively. It builds on the image analyses of transmission electron microscopy and optical microscopy micrographs, and two parameters, degree of dispersion and mean interparticle distance per unit volume of clay, are proposed to characterize the level of clay dispersion. It provides insights into the 'real' clay dispersion using a combination of both microscopical and macroscopical aspects.
KW - clay
KW - image analysis
KW - nanocomposite
KW - optical microscopy
KW - transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79952784552&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/masy.201150319
DO - 10.1002/masy.201150319
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79952784552
SN - 1022-1360
VL - 301
SP - 151
EP - 156
JO - Macromolecular Symposia
JF - Macromolecular Symposia
IS - 1
ER -