Characterization of polystyrene nanocomposites containing nanoparticles of pseudoboehmite obtained by sol-gel process

Abstract

Polymer nanocomposites are hybrid materials in which inorganic substances of nanometric dimensions are dispersed in a polymeric matrix. These substances have high surface area allowing a better interaction with the polymeric matrix and consequently promote changes in the physical properties of the final composite with small additions of the same. The preparation of nanocomposites with polymer matrix allows in many cases to find a relationship between a low cost due to the use of lower amount of charge, reaching high level of performance. In this work, were obtained polystyrene nanocomposites with pseudoboehmite synthesized by the sol-gel process with different concentrations of pseudoboehmite using octadecylamine as a coupling agent. The nanocomposites were prepared by the melt intercalation technique and characterized by differential thermal analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, heat deflection temperature, Vicat softening point, mechanical and rheological tests. The results showed an increase in the thermal properties, hardness and tensile strength values and decrease in the melt index, impact resistance and tensile elongation, showing the interaction of the filler with the polymer matrix.