Environmentally Benign Injection Molded ‘Green’ Nanocomposite Materials from Renewable Resources for Automotive Applications

摘要

Injection molded ‘green’ nanocomposites have been successfully fabricated from cellulose acetatern(CA), triethyl citrate (TEC) plasticizer and organically modified clay. The effects of processingrnconditions, amount of plasticizer, various types and content of organo-clays on the performance ofrnthese nanocomposites has been evaluated. The cellulosic plastic with 80 wt. % pure cellulose acetaternand 20 wt.% triethyl citrate plasticizer was used as the polymer matrix for nanocomposite fabrication.rnThe morphologies of these nanocomposites were evaluated through X-ray diffraction (XRD) andrntransmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies The me chanical properties of nanocomposites havernbeen are correlated with the XRD and TEM observations. Cellulosic plastic -based nanocompositesrnwith 5 and 10 wt.% organo-clay showed better exfoliated and intercalated structure than therncounterpart having 15 wt.% organo-clay. The tensile strength and modulus of cellulosic plasticrnreinforced with 10 wt.% organo-clay was improved by 75 and 180% respectively. The reinforcementrnof cellulosic plastic with organic modified caly improves the thermal stability and reduces the waterrnvapor absorption as well.