Preparation and properties of polyamide 66/organo-vermiculite nanocomposites

摘要

Polyamide 66/organo-vermiculite (OVMT) nanocomposites with different clay loadings were prepared via melt mixing using a twin-screw extruder. The vermiculite was premodified with hexadecyl trimethylammonium bromide by ball milling. The resultant polyamide 66/OVMT nanocomposites possessed an exfoliated structure as confirmed by both wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Mechanical property tests showed that the tensile strength, flexural modulus, and flexural strength of these nanocomposites increased dramatically with the OVMT loading, and the Charpy impact strength and fracture toughness decreased. In addition, the heat distortion temperature of the nanocomposites showed an obvious increase compared with pure polyamide 66. Finally, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results showed that the crystal structure and crystallization behaviors of the nanocomposites are different from those of polyamide 66.