Thermal aging and accelerated weathering of PVC/MMT nanocomposites: Structural and morphological studies |
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| Authors: | Joanna Pagacz Micha? Chrzanowski Izabella Krucińska Krzysztof Pielichowski |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Chemistry and Technology of Polymers, Cracow University of Technology, Krakow, Poland;2. Department of Material and Commodity Sciences and Textile Metrology, Technical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland |
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| Abstract: | This work focuses on the influence of weathering factors—UV radiation, humidity, and temperature on the structure and morphology of poly(vinyl chloride)/montmorillonite (PVC/MMT) nanocomposites obtained by melt blending. It has been observed that organically modified MMT (OMMT) deteriorates the weathering resistance, the thermal behavior, as well as the long‐term stability of PVC. Decomposition of the organic modifier of MMT causes substantial color changes in the PVC nanocomposites as it facilitates the dehydrochlorination process of the polymer. However, the nonmodified MMT provides some stabilization during PVC weathering. The nanocomposites after annealing are characterized by higher glass transition temperature. The increase in heat capacity step (Δcp) during glass transition suggests that in the PVC composites with nonmodified MMT stronger molecular interactions between the polymer and clay platelets occur than in PVC/OMMT nanocomposites. The scanning electron microscopy images on the surface and the cross section show that thermal aging and weathering proceed by different mechanisms. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42090. |
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| Keywords: | clay degradation differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) nanostructured polymers poly(vinyl chloride) |
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