Spherulitic Morphology and Thermal Stability of PP/ZnO Nanocomposites
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Spherulitic Morphology and Thermal Stability of PP/ZnO Nanocomposites Sandeep Razdan, Prabir Patra, Yong Kim and Steve Warner Textile Science Department, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 285, Old Westport Road, North Dartmouth, MA-02747 ABSTRACT Polypropylene nanocomposites were prepared using zinc oxide as the filler by melt mixing process. Nanocomposites were also prepared using maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene and methylated-zinc oxide using the same method. The samples were analyzed for observing changes in morphology and thermal stability using various characterizing instruments. The results showed that zinc oxide induced changes in the morphology and thermal stability of polypropylene, though by varying amounts depending on the type of nanocomposite prepared. The nanocomposites prepared from g-PP and methylated zinc oxide showed significant changes in crystallization temperature, decomposition temperature and residue formed upon decomposition, as compared to the rest of the composites or control samples. This was attributed to higher degree of interaction existing at the interphase between the organic and inorganic phases for these nanocomposites. INTRODUCTION Nanocomposites have gained widespread research interest owing to the enhancement in mechanical and thermal properties achieved, upon low loading levels. Polypropylene, being a useful and versatile commodity polymer, has also been one of the most popular for nanocomposite studies. Several research groups have reported enhancement in the mechanical, thermal and flammability properties of polypropylene upon addition of nano-sized layered silicate hybrids, mainly montmorillonite clays [1-3]. Other fillers such as silica and carbon nanotubes have also been investigated in this regard [4-6]. Despite these investigations, the interaction between the inorganic filler and the organic polymer, as well as the structural changes accompanying the addition of the filler in the polymer matrix is still largely unresolved. Our study focuses on the effect of incorporation of nano-sized zinc oxide on the morphology and thermal stability of polypropylene. The interaction between the filler and the polymer and its effects on morphology is further investigated by the use of methylated-zinc oxide and graftedpolypropylene in the formation of nanocomposites. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS Isotactic polypropylene and polypropylene grafted with maleic anhydride (referred to as gPP in later sections) were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich corporation. The nanofillers namely, Nanotek® zinc oxide and Zinc oxide C1 (zinc oxide coated with octyl silane derivatives to enhance the affinity towards organic polymer) were obtained from Nanophase Technologies Corporation. The zinc oxide particles had an average particles size of 50 nm and a specific surface area of 19m2/g.
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The nanocomposites were prepared using Brabender Plasti-Corder melt mixing instrument obtained from C. W. Brabender Instruments Inc. Surface morphology characterization was performed using JEOL JSM 5610 Sca
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