Vapor barrier properties of polycaprolactone montmorillonite nanocomposites: effect of clay dispersion

Different compositions of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and (organo-modified) montmorillonite were prepared by melt blending or catalyzed ring opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone. Microphase composites were obtained by direct melt blending of PCL and sodium montmorillonite (MMT-Na⁺). Exfoliated nanocomposites were obtained by in situ ring opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone with an organo-modified montmorillonite (MMT-(OH)₂) by using dibutyltin dimethoxide as an initiator/catalyst. Intercalated nanocomposites were formed either by melt blending with organo-modified montmorillonite or in situ polymerization within sodium montmorillonite. The barrier properties were studied for water vapor and dichloromethane as an organic solvent. The sorption (S) and the zero concentration diffusion coefficient (D₀) were evaluated for both vapors. The water sorption increases with increasing the MMT content, particularly for the microcomposites containing the unmodified MMT-Na⁺. The thermodynamic diffusion parameters, D₀, were compared to the value of the parent PCL: both microcomposites and intercalated nanocomposites show diffusion parameters very near to PCL. At variance exfoliated nanocomposites show much lower values, even for small montmorillonite content. In the case of the organic vapor, the value of sorption at low relative pressure is mainly dominated by the amorphous fraction present in the samples, not showing any preferential adsorption on the inorganic component. At high relative pressure the isotherms showed an exponential increase of sorption, due to plasticization of the polyester matrix. The D₀ parameters were also compared to those of the unfilled PCL; in this case, both the exfoliated and the intercalated samples showed lower values, due to a more tortuous path for the penetrant molecules.