This Article Full Text (OnlineFirst PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Sharmila, R. J. Articles by Alagar, M. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Preparation and Characterization of Organoclay-Filled, Vinyl Ester-Modified Unsaturated Polyester Nanocomposites

¹ Department of Chemistry, Quaid-e-Millet Government Arts College for Women, Chennai – 600 002, India
² Department of Chemical Engineering, Anna University, Chennai – 600 025, India

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

	Abstract

Organophilic montmorillonite clay – unsaturated polyester (UP) and vinyl ester oligomer (VEO) – unsaturated polyester nanocomposites were prepared and the formation of nanocomposites was evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The VEO was prepared by reactingcommercially available epoxy resin LY556 and acrylic acid and was used as a toughening agent for unsaturated polyester resin. Organoclay-filled hybrid VEO–UP matrices, developed in the form of castings, were characterized for their thermal and mechanical properties. Dynamic mechanical measurements indicated the presence of higher crosslink density for the clay-filled systems than unfilled systems. X-ray diffraction analysis infers the intercalation of the polymer molecules between the clay layers which in turn restricts the mobility of polymer in the vicinity of clay layers. A shift in T_g towards lower temperature was observed for nanocomposites. Significant improvement in the mechanical properties was also observed in the case of nanocomposites when compared with neat resin matrix.

Key Words: Unsaturated polyester, vinyl ester oligomer, clay, tensile strength, thermal stability, water absorption, morphology, nanocomposites

First published on December 23, 2008
High Performance Polymers 2008, doi:10.1177/0954008308099491


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?