Effect of aluminosilicate nanoclay on polyester composites' static and dynamic mechanical properties

What is it about?

In this research, the effect of the addition of aluminosilicate (bentonite) nanoclay powder on the mechanical and dynamic mechanical behavior of polyester composites was investigated. Nanoclay laminates were fabricated in four different combinations, and the effect of nanofiller addition on the mechanical behaviors has been tested under ASTM Standards. The nanoclay and polyester resin were mixed using the ultrasonication process. Due to the enhanced interface between nanoclay and polyester, the flexural, tensile, and impact characteristics of laminates were boosted by clay addition. The loss modulus, storage modulus, and tan δ of the specimen were studied as a function of temperature and frequency of oscillation using a dynamic mechanical analyzer, and it was discovered that the addition of 5 wt% bentonite clay provided better strength and had the highest storage modulus than the other laminates. A morphology analysis was done on the fractured specimens through scanning electron microscopy.

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Photo by L N on Unsplash

Photo by L N on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Polymer nanocomposites are a special type of nanoclay composites, nowadays becoming more commercially available due to their use in the fields of aerospace, automobiles, and biomedical applications. Generally, these polymer matrix composites are reinforced with nanofillers, which are in the form of platelets, with their thickness in the range of 10^9m. Polymer nanocomposites have unique physical and mechanical properties due to the higher interfacial area between the nanofillers and the polymers. The inclusion of the nanofiller material into the composite enhances the mechanical properties, such as impact, flexural and tensile strength as well as the modulus. The mechanical and thermo-mechanical characteristics of bentonite nanoclay polyester composites were examined in this study. The experimentation results conclude that adding 5wt% bentonite nanoclay into the polyester resin improves the mechanical parameters such as flexural, tensile, impact, and ILSS with a percentage rise of 15, 16, 25.4, and 26.65%, respectively, when compared to pure polyester resin.

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