The Evolution of Nanoclay Distribution in PC/ABS/Nanoclay Blend Nanocomposites via Rheology

An attempt is made to examine the capability of the rheological techniques to study the partitioning and state of dispersion of nanoclay in immiscible blend nanocomposite. For this purpose, the nanocomposite samples varying in the polycarbonate/Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (PC/ABS) blend ratio (30/70, 50/50 and 70/30) and nanoclay loading (2, 4, 6 wt%) were considered. All of the samples were prepared by melt compounding and using masterbatch method of feeding in an internal mixer and co-rotating twin screw extruder.The linear viscoelastic results evaluated by oscillatory tests showed a pseudo plastic type behavior for PC while ABS exhibited a low frequency solid body response due to strong inter-connectivity between SAN and rubber micro domain of dispersed phase. The results of oscillatory tests performed on PC/nanoclay and ABS/nanoclay nanocomposites revealed a slightly greater affinity of nanoclay with ABS compared to PC. The results of similar experiments carried out on PC/ABS blend nanocomposites also showed a preferred partitioning of nanoclay in ABS phase for the samples with different blend ratio.These results were evidenced by SEM results which showed no appreciable effect of presence of nanoclay on morphology of this system

Keywords:

PC/ABS/Nanoclay nanocomposite , Melt rheology , Linear viscoelastic properties