Melt rheological behavior of PMMA nanocomposites reinforced with modified nanoclay

Abstract

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanocomposites containing nanoclay with and without compatibilizer (PMMA-g-MA) were prepared by melt blending followed by compression molding in order to investigate the rheological and flammability properties of developed nanocomposites. The rheological measurements at various temperatures and frequencies were performed using rheometer with parallel-plate geometry. The frequency sweep result revealed that storage modulus improved with the addition of nanoclay at lower frequency and gradually changed from liquid-like behavior to solid-like behavior due to the formation of percolating network structure. For all the samples, complex viscosity decreased as the temperature increased. Similarly, dynamic mechanical investigations exhibited a significant enhancement in storage modulus at lower temperature due to reinforcing effect of nanoclay. The flammability test also demonstrated that rate of burning was reduced by 37% with the addition of nanoclay.