• Macromolecular Research
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.410-417
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• 2003

Poly(methyl methacrylate-co-acrylonitrile) [P(MMA-co-AN)]/Na-MMT nanocomposites were synthesized through emulsion polymerization with pristine Na-MMT. The nanocomposites were exfoliated up to 20 wt% content of pristine Na-MMT relative to the amount of MMA and AN, and exhibited enhanced storage moduli, E', relative to the neat copolymer. The exfoliated morphology of the nanocomposite was confirmed by XRD and TEM. 2-Acryla-mido-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid (AMPS) widened the galleries between the clay layers before polymerization and facilitated the comonomers, penetration into the clay to create the exfoliated nanocomposites. The onset of the thermal decomposition of the nanocomposites shifted to a higher temperature as the clay content increased. By calculating areas of tan$\delta$ of the nanocomposites, we observed that the nanocomposites show more solid-like behavior as the clay content increases. The dynamic storage modulus and complex viscosity increased with clay content. The complex viscosity showed shear-thinning behavior as the clay content increased. The Young's moduli of the nano-composites are higher than that of the neat copolymer and they increase steadily as the silicate content increases, as a result of the exfoliated structure at high clay content.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.676-681
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• 2007

A process designed to synthesize rigid polyurethane foam (PUF) with insulative properties via the modulation of PUF cell size via the addition of clay and the application of ultrasound was assessed. The blowing agents utilized in this study include water, cyclopentane, and HFC-365mfc, all of which are known to be environmentally-friendly blowing agents. The rigid PUFs were prepared from polymeric 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (PMDI) and polyether polyol with a density of $50kg/m^3$. In addition, rigid PUFs/clay nanocomposites were synthesized with clay modified by PMDI with and without the application of ultrasound. The PUF generated using water as a blowing agent evidenced the highest tensile strength. The tensile strength of the PUF/nanocomposites was higher than that of the neat PUF and the strength was even higher with the application of ultrasound. The cell size of the PUF/clay nanocomposites was less than that of the neat PUF, regardless of the type of blowing agent utilized. It appears that the higher tensile strength and lower cell size of the PUF/clay nanocomposites may be attributable to the uniform dispersion of the clay via ultrasonic agitation. The thermal conductivity of the PUF/clay nanocomposites generated with HCFC-141b evidenced the lowest value when PUF/clay nanocomposites were compared with other blowing agents, including HFC-365mfc, cyclopentane, and water. Ultrasound has also proven effective with regard to the reduction of the thermal conductivity of the PUF/clay nanocomposites with any of the blowing agents employed in this study. It has also been suggested that the uniformly dispersed clay particles in the PUF matrix function as diffusion barriers, which prevent the amelioration of the thermal insulation property.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.452-457
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• 2009

Hybrid nanomaterials consisting of multi-walled carbon nanotube(MWNT) and/or PEDOT of conductive polymer were prepared in this study. In the presence of catalyst and ligand, the MWNT-Br compound prepared by the successive surface treatment reaction was mixed with MMA to initiate the atom transfer radical polymerization process. PMMA was covalently linked to the surface of MWNT for the formation of MWNT/PMMA nanocomposites. The EDOT and oxidant were added in the aqueous emulsion of PS produced via a miniemulsion polymerization process and then it proceeded to carry out the oxidative chemical polymerization of EDOT for the preparation of PEDOT/PS nanoparticles with the core-shell structure. The aqueous dispersion of PEDOT:poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) was mixed with the silica particles treated with a silane compound and thus PEDOT:PSS-clad silica nanoparticles were prepared by the surface chemistry reaction. The hybrid nanomaterials were analyzed by using TEM, FE-SEM, TGA, EDX, UV, and FT-IR.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.224-231
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• 2007

Polyurethane (PU) was prepared with the compositions of polytetramethylene glycol (PTMG) having two different molecular weight (250, 1000 g/mol). The optimum composition of PTMG 250/1000 was 60/40 based on the mechanical properties. PU/organoclay nanocomposites were prepared with several kinds of organoclay. The mechanical properties of nanocomposite prepared with 93A were considerable. The improvement in tensile strength and modulus for PU/organoclay nanocomposite with the application of ultrasound compared to the PU/organoclay nanocomposite without the application of ultrasound was factors of 1.2, and hardness (shore A type) increased from 90 to 95. The difference in thermal degradation was not observed. The results of transmission electron micrographs and X-ray measurements suggest that the intercalated organoclay in PU matrix was observed.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.577-582
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• 2016

In this study, a multiscale method for solving a thermoelasticity problem for interphase in the polymeric nanocomposites is developed. Molecular dynamics simulation and finite element analysis were numerically combined to describe the geometrical boundaries and the local mechanical response of the interfacial region where the polymer networks were highly interacted with the nanoparticle surface. Also, the micrmechanical thermoelasticity equations were applied to the obtained equivalent continuum unit to compute the growth of interphase thickness according to the size of nanoparticles, as well as the thermal phase transition behavior at a wide range of temperatures. Accordingly, the equivalent continuum model obtained from the multiscale analysis provides a meaningful description of the thermoelastic behavior of interphase as well as its nanoparticle size effect on thermoelasticity at both below and above the glass transition temperature.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.326-332
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• 2010

Nanocomposite films were prepared by blending poly(amic acid)(PAA), poly(o-hydroxyamide)( PHA) and organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT) that has a layered structure. XRD, SEM and TEM were used to study the morphology of PAA/PHA nanocomposites, and DMA, TGA, UTM, LOI and PCFC techniques were used to characterize the mechanical and thermal properties, and flame retardancy of the nanocomposites. TEM images revealed that OMMT layers were well dispersed in the PAA/PHA matrix and showed exfoliation and intercalation behavior. The addition of 3 wt% OMMT to the PAA/PHA blend increased the initial modulus of PAA/ PHA blend to 3.68 GPa that was ca. 48% higher than that of the control PAA/PHA blend. Above 4 wt%, however, both the initial modulus and the tensile strength were found to decrease, which might be due to the aggregation of OMMT in PAA/PHA matrix. When the OMMT content was below 3 wt%, the thermal stability and flame retardancy of the PAA/PHA nanocomposites increased with increasing OMMT content.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.215-215
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• 2006

The cyclic butylene terephthalte oligomer was synthesized and the composition of butylenes terephthalate cyclic oligomers was 51.2 % of dimer, 28.1 % of trimer, 7.9 % of tetramer, 8 % of pentamer and 4.8% of hexamer. Polybuthylene terephthalate was polymerized using this cyclic oligomer in the condition of melt process and supercritical process. And PBT/clay nanocomposite were manu- factured from melt process and supercritical process. Chlorodifluoro- methane(HCFC-22) was used as a solvent which has critical point ($Tc=96.2^{\circ}C$, Pc=49.7bar). Also polymer nanocomposite were manufactured using rapid expansion of supercritical solution process.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.120-124
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• 2000

Clay-dispersed nanocomposites have been prepared by simple melt-mixing of two components, styrenic polymers with different content of functional groups and two different organophilic clays (Cloisite(R) 25A and Cloisite(R)30A) with a twin screw extruder. Dispersibility of 10-$\AA$-thick silicate layers of clay in the hybrid was investigated by using an X-ray diffraction method and a transmission electron microscope. It was found that if the interaction force between intercalant and matrix polymer is attractive, the matrix polymer intercalates more rapidly into the gallery of silicate layers. The faster intercalation of matrix polymer leads to the better dispersibility of silicate layers in the matrix polymer.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.272-279
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• 2017

The heterocoagulation of latex is a simple and useful method to fabricate various polymer nanocomposites in which a precise control of the colloid stability is essential. In this work, a multi-layered graphenes (MLGs)/poly(styrene-co-butyl acrylate) (P(S-co-BA)) nanocomposite having an excellent dispersion of MLGs was prepared via the sudden heating heterocoagulation process. The P(S-co-BA) component was obtained by emulsion polymerization. This process can effectively shorten the process and particles growth steps. The colloid stability of these dispersions was controlled by factors such as ionic charge, temperature, and reaction times. The influence of these factors on heterocoagulation was evaluated and the properties of the nanocomposites were investigated. The conductivity of the MLGs/P(S-co-BA) nanocomposites increased from -11.53 to -5.70 S/cm for an increase in MLG content from 0.01 to 5 wt%. Moreover, percolation threshold was observed in the case of 0.01 wt% MLGs.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.2261-2264
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• 2010

In this work, mechanical and electrical properties of graphenes (GP)/carbon nanotubes (CNTs) co-reinforced high density polyethylene (HDPE) matrix composites were studied. The microstructure, morphologies, and electric properties of the composites were evaluated by XRD, TEM, and 4-probe methods, respectively. It was found that the electric resistivity of 0.5 wt %-GP/HDPE was immeasurable, and 2.0 wt %-CNTs/HDPE showed high resistivity ($6.02{\times}10^4{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$). Meanwhile, GP (0.5 wt %)/CNTs (2.0 wt %)/HDPE showed excellent low resistivity ($3.1{\times}10^2{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$). This result indicates that the co-reinforcement systems can dramatically decrease electric resistivity of the carbon/polymer nanocomposites.