Organomodification of montmorillonite and its effects on the properties of poly(butylene succinate) nanocomposites

Biodegradable Poly(Butylene Succinate) Nanocomposites Based on Dimeric Surfactant Organomodified Clays with Enhanced Water Vapor Barrier and Mechanical Properties

Biocomposites based on biodegradable polybutylene succinate (PBS) and organomodified clays (OMt) were prepared by melt blending process. The OMt nanofillers were obtained by ion exchange reaction between sodium montmorillonite (Mt) and gemini surfactants bearing 4-decyloxyphenylacetamide hydrophobic chains and ethylene or hexylene spacer. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and rheological measurement results showed that the investigated hybrids present a uniform dispersion with an exfoliation of clay into the PBS matrix, particularly for short spacer surfactant based composites. The effect of organoclay loading and composition on the thermal, mechanical, and barrier properties was also investigated. High clay loading and long gemini surfactant spacer lead to substantial improvement of Young modulus values by 21%, while low clay content induces a reduction of the hybrid's crystallinity due to strong OMt-PBS interactions. Compared to that of the neat PBS film, a significant reduction of the water vapor permeability (WVP) by 28% was obtained by adding only 3 wt % of PBS/OMt (2) which opens up prospects for this material in the field of food packaging. This study shows that gemini surfactant-modified organoclays can be used as effective nanofillers in a PBS matrix to access to value-added nanocomposites.

A Short Review on the Effect of Surfactants on the Mechanico-Thermal Properties of Polymer Nanocomposites

The recent growth of nanotechnology consciousness has enhanced the attention of researchers on the utilization of polymer nanocomposites. Nanocomposite have widely been made by using synthetic, natural, biosynthetic, and synthetic biodegradable polymers with nanofillers. Nanofillers are normally modified with surfactants for increasing the mechanico-thermal properties of the nanocomposites. In this short review, two types of polymer nanocomposites modified by surfactants are classified, specifically surfactant-modified inorganic nanofiller/polymer nanocomposites and surfactant-modified organic nanofiller/polymer nanocomposites. Moreover, three types of surfactants, specifically non-ionic, anionic, and cationic surfactants that are frequently used to modify the nanofillers of polymer nanocomposites are also described. The effect of surfactants on mechanico-thermal properties of the nanocomposites is shortly reviewed. This review will capture the interest of polymer composite researchers and encourage the further enhancement of new theories in this research field.

Surface Modification of Aluminum Nitride to Fabricate Thermally Conductive poly(Butylene Succinate) Nanocomposite

Biodegradable polymers and their composites are considered promising materials for replacing conventional polymer plastics in various engineering fields. In this study, poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) composites filled with 5% aluminum nitride nanoparticles were successfully fabricated. The aluminum nitride nanoparticles were surface-modified to improve their interaction with the PBS matrix. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy revealed that the nanocomposites with surface-modified nanoparticles had better interface interaction and dispersion in the polymer matrix than those with untreated nanoparticles. The PBS/modified AlN nanocomposites exhibited maximal thermal conductivity enhancement, 63.7%, compared to the neat PBS. In addition, other thermomechanical properties of the PBS nanocomposites were investigated in this study. The nanocomposites also showed a superior storage modulus compared to the neat PBS matrix. In this work, a PBS nanocomposite with suitable thermal conductivity that can be used in various electronic fields was fabricated.

Structure-barrier property relationship of biodegradable poly(butylene succinate) and poly[(butylene succinate)-co-(butylene adipate)] nanocomposites: influence of the rigid amorphous fraction

Composites composed of polyesters, poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) or poly[(butylene succinate)-co-(butylene adipate)] (PBSA), and 5 wt% of montmorillonite (CNa) or organo-modified montmorillonite (C30B) were melt-processed and transformed into films by either compression-molding or extrusion-calendering. XRD, rheological measurements and TEM images clearly indicated that films containing CNa are microcomposites, while nanocomposites were observed for those containing C30B. Using Flash DSC, it was possible, for the first time, not only to measure the heat capacity step at the glass transition of these two materials in their amorphous state, but also to investigate whether the preparation technique influenced the Rigid Amorphous Fraction (RAF) in our PBS- and PBSA-based nanocomposites. In this work, we have successfully shown the correlation between the microstructure of the films and their barrier properties, and especially the role played by the RAF. Indeed, the lowest permeabilities to gases and to water were determined in the films containing the highest RAF in both PBS- and PBSA-based materials.