Effect of nanoclay on relaxation and breakup of polyamide 6 threads in polystyrene matrix

In this work, we investigate the compatibilizing mechanism of nanoclay in binary polymer blends by measuring the interfacial tension of polystyrene/polyamide 6, PS/PA6, as a typical system, in the presence of nanoclay. The interfacial tension of PA6 nanocomposites and PS are determined with the breaking thread method by employing the Tomotika theory. The interfacial tension is reduced when organoclay is incorporated in the PA6 phase. To investigate the effect of the localization of nanoclay, nanoclay is intentionally located at the interface of PA6 and PS. Microscopic observations show that PA6 fiber remain unchanged and does not go through break-up process; therefore, one can deduce that the apparent interfacial tension of the system reduces significantly when nanoclay particles saturate the interface.

Automated summary

This study investigates the compatibilizing mechanism of nanoclay in binary polymer blends, showing that the interfacial tension of the system is significantly reduced when organoclay is incorporated in the PA6 phase. Microscopic observations demonstrate that locating nanoclay at the interface of PA6 and PS can effectively reduce the interfacial tension.