The effect of halloysite nanotubes and N,N'- ethylenebis (stearamide) on the properties of polylactide nanocomposites with amorphous matrix

Authors

M. Pluta, J. Bojda, E. Piorkowska, M. Murariu, L. Bonnaud, and P. Dubois

Reference

Polymer Testing, vol. 61, pp. 35-45, 2017

Description

Amorphous polylactide/halloysite nanotube (PLA/HNT) nanocomposites were prepared and examined. Neat HNT and HNT treated with N,N'- ethylenebis(stearamide) (EBS) were used as nanofillers. The role of HNT and/or EBS content on the cold crystallization of amorphous PLA matrix, HNT dispersion, as well as on the dynamic mechanical and optical properties of the materials was determined.

The PLA/HNT-based nanocomposites contained well-distributed nanotubes and occasionally micron-sized aggregates, especially at high loading. HNT, EBS treated HNT and EBS influenced the cold crystallization of PLA, therefore the formation of the disorder α′ and the order α crystallographic forms of PLA.

The nanocomposites exhibited increased stiffness and decreased transparency compared to the neat PLA. Due to the reinforcing effect and additional specific features of HNT, the addition of the nanofiller allows tuning of the properties of the nanocomposites with amorphous PLA matrix.

Link

doi:10.1016/j.polymertesting.2017.04.016