Thermogravimetric evaluation of PC/ABS/montmorillonite nanocomposite

Polycarbonate (PC)/Acrylonitrile-butidiene-styrene(ABS) polymer alloy/montmorillonite (MMT) nanocomposites have been prepared using direct melt intercalation. Their morphological properties are characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and the high resolution electron microscopy (HREM). The thermal stability of the polymer alloy and the nanocomposite were studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TG) The activation energies were determined using the Kissinger method and the Flynn-Wall-Ozawa method, which do not require knowledge of the reaction mechanism (RM). The results show that the PC/ABS/MMT nanocomposite has a higher thermal stability and lower flammability. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.