Thermoplastic polyolefin nanocomposites: effect of mechanical, thermal, and morphological properties

The polymer nanocomposites were prepared by melt compounding from polypropylene/thermoplastic elastomer (PP-TPE) with sodium montmorillonite (Na-MMT) and cloisite 20A using maleic anhydride modified PP-grafted maleic anhydride (PP-g-MA) as a compatibilizer. Three different weight percentages (3, 5, and 7 wt%) of nanoclay (Na-MMT or C20A) were used to study the effect on the properties of nanocomposites. The optimized clay composition of 5% was tested by varying the wt% of compatibilizer (5, 10, 15, and 20) to obtain better performance properties of nanocomposites. The excellent improvements in mechanical properties were observed by the incorporation 5 wt% cloisite20A with 5% compatibilizer. TPO nanocomposites show higher melting point and thermal degradation temperature on heat loading. The good thermal stability was confirmed from DSC and TGA. The intercalated/exfoliated phenomenon was indicated by the increase in T g and storage modulus using DMA. Wide angle X-ray scattering (XRD) was employed to study the size and changes in the morphology; it is also provided conclusive evidence for the formation of exfoliated structures.