Preparation and characterization of polypropylene/layered silicate nanocomposites using an antioxidant

Polypropylene (PP)/Iayered silicate nanocomposites were prepared via simple melt mixing of three components, PP, layered silicates modified with octadecylamine (C18-MMT) and antioxidant, to investigate the role of antioxidant. TEM and X-ray scattering results confirmed the intercalated state of silicates in PP/layered silicate nanocomposites with antioxidant. In rheological and mechanical study, the nanocomposites with antioxidant showed higher properties than those of the unfilled PP. The nanocomposite with 5 wt% C18-MMT and 0.5 phr antioxidant exhibited about 1.4 times higher tensile modulus and 1.3 times higher storage modulus than the unfilled PP. However, PP/C18-MMT without antioxidant showed lower rheological values owing to the thermal decomposition of PP and the poor compatibility between PP and C18-MMT. It could be concluded that antioxidants played an important role in enhancing the compatibility between PP and C18-MMT. According to the real time X-ray diffraction, the nanocomposite showed the weak ordering of PP crystals than the unfilled PP in the load-extension plateau region of elongation. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd.