TY - JOUR
T1 - Investigation on the Thermal Degradation Kinetics of Polypropylene/Organically Modified Montmorillonite Nanocomposites with Different Levels of Compatibilizer
AU - Vimalathithan, Paramsamy Kannan
AU - Barile, Claudia
AU - Casavola, Caterina
AU - Vijayakumar, Chinnaswamy Thangavel
AU - Arunachalam, Sundaresan
AU - Battisti, Markus
AU - Friesenbichler, Walter
PY - 2018/10/9
Y1 - 2018/10/9
N2 - Polypropylene/organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT) nanocomposites are prepared with different levels of compatibilizer (maleic anhydride functionalized polypropylene) and OMMT. A specially designed polymer nanocomposite injection molding compounder with a hyperbolic nozzle is used to prepare the nanocomposites. The thermal kinetic parameters, the activation energy, pre‐exponential factor, and the reaction model are estimated using isoconversional methods. The activation energy of virgin polypropylene is slightly higher than the polypropylene/OMMT nanocomposites. However, the presence of the compatibilizer is the vital reason for the lower activation energy in the polypropylene/OMMT nanocomposites. The reaction model explains the complexity of the reaction in the presence of OMMT and its influence on the accelerated charring in the later stages of degradation. The optimum working temperature of the prepared polypropylene/clay nanocomposites is significantly higher thus proving that OMMT improves the thermal stability of the nanocomposites. The polypropylene with 5% OMMT and 10% compatibilizer in its weight proportion has the optimum working temperature of 198 °C for 20 000 h before losing its integrity.
AB - Polypropylene/organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT) nanocomposites are prepared with different levels of compatibilizer (maleic anhydride functionalized polypropylene) and OMMT. A specially designed polymer nanocomposite injection molding compounder with a hyperbolic nozzle is used to prepare the nanocomposites. The thermal kinetic parameters, the activation energy, pre‐exponential factor, and the reaction model are estimated using isoconversional methods. The activation energy of virgin polypropylene is slightly higher than the polypropylene/OMMT nanocomposites. However, the presence of the compatibilizer is the vital reason for the lower activation energy in the polypropylene/OMMT nanocomposites. The reaction model explains the complexity of the reaction in the presence of OMMT and its influence on the accelerated charring in the later stages of degradation. The optimum working temperature of the prepared polypropylene/clay nanocomposites is significantly higher thus proving that OMMT improves the thermal stability of the nanocomposites. The polypropylene with 5% OMMT and 10% compatibilizer in its weight proportion has the optimum working temperature of 198 °C for 20 000 h before losing its integrity.
U2 - 10.1002/mame.201800260
DO - 10.1002/mame.201800260
M3 - Article
SN - 1438-7492
VL - 303.2018
JO - Macromolecular materials and engineering
JF - Macromolecular materials and engineering
IS - December
M1 - 1800260
ER -