Nanoparticle Effects on Structure and Properties of Polypropylene Meltblown Webs

摘要

The effect of nanoclay additive on thestructure, morphology, and mechanical properties of poly-propylene meltblown webs is reported here for the firsttime. Effect of nanoclay on the meltblown processing,resultant fiber web structure, and properties are discussed.Combination of wide-angle x-ray diffraction, differentialscanning calorimetry, and transmission electron micros-copy were used to determine the nature of clay dispersionin the polypropylene fiber matrix and resultant morphol-ogy. Transmission electron microscopy micrographs revealed nanolevel dispersion of the additive in the fiberweb. Clay additive did not offer any benefit as far as themechanical properties of the meltblown web are con-cerned. Meltblown web samples with nanoclay had highervariability in web structure, high air permeability, highstiffness, and lower mechanical properties.