Structural and thermal properties of polystyrene/CoAl-layered double hydroxide nanocomposites prepared via solvent blending: effect of LDH loading

摘要

Nanocomposites of polystyrene (PS) with modified CoAl-layered double hydroxide (CoAl-LDH) were prepared via simple solvent blending method and the effect of CoAl-LDH content on the structural and thermal properties was investigated. The structural and thermal properties of the nanocomposites were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. The nano-scale dispersion of the CoAl-LDH layers in the PS matrix is verified by the (0 0 3) XRD reflection of the modified CoAl-LDH. The XRD data show that the exfoliated PS/CoAl-LDH nanocomposites can be obtained by controlling the LDH loading of about 5 wt%. TEM analysis also confirms the formation of exfoliated PS nanocomposites with 3 wt% and 5 wt% LDH loading. The thermal degradation temperature of the PS nanocomposite containing 5 wt% CoAl-LDH is found to be 12℃ higher than that of pure PS when 50% weight loss is selected as a point of comparison. The glass transition temperature (T_g) of PS nanocomposites is about 14℃ higher than that of pure PS.