Bio-nanocomposite of polyvinyl alcohol/Tapanuli organoclay-intercalated surfactant HDTMA-Br: Synthesis, tensile and degradation tests

Abstract

Currently, the development of plastics that can be easily decomposed is attracting attention, especially for the conversion of polymer-based materials such as modified polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) into composites. Bio-nanocomposites were prepared using the solvent casting method of PVA and organoclay as the matrix and nanofiller, respectively. In this study, the characteristics and mechanical properties of the PVA/hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (C16)-intercalated organoclay nanocomposite were examined. This study was carried out in two stages, i.e., the interactions between organoclay and C16 and the synthesis and characterization of the PVA/organoclay-CI6 nanocomposites. Intercalation was verified from the shift of the X-ray Diffraction (XRD) peak from 2θ = 6° to 4.9° of bentonite and organoclay, with a shift in the basal spacing from 15.1 to 19.7 Å. The highest tensile strength of 58.02 MPa was observed for pristine PVA, and the lowest tensile strength of 41.33 MPa was observed for the PVA/organoclay-7% C16 nanocomposite. The highest water vapor transmission rate of 0.35 g/m2/h was observed for the PVA/organoclay-7% Cl6 nanocomposite, and the lowest value of 0.62 g/m2/h was observed for pure PVA. PVA/organoclay-3% C16 exhibited the optimum, as well as the least, decomposition properties, and PVA exhibited natural decomposition.