Effect of clay structure and type of organomodifier on the thermal properties of poly(ethylene terephthalate) based nanocomposites

In the current investigation, nanocomposites of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) with different types of organo-clays were produced using the melt mixing technique. Two types of commercial inorganic clays (Laponite-synthetic hectorite and Kunipia-montmorillonite) were studied after cation-exchange with hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) while two commercial organo-modified montmorillonite clays (Nanomer I.30E modified with primary octadecylammonium ions and Cloisite 10A modified with quaternary dimethyl benzyl hydrogenated-tallow ammonium ions) were also investigated. The structure of the nanocomposites was studied by X-ray diffraction measurements. A detailed crystallization analysis was carried out by means of both isothermal and non-isothermal (melt and cold) measurements. All data were analyzed using the simple Avrami equation along with advanced isoconversional methods. The nucleation activity of the filler was investigated in every case. Lauritzen-Hoffman analysis was employed to isothermal data to estimate the nucleation parameters. From all these measurements it was found that the organo-clay I.30E induces the higher crystallization rates and lower activation energy and is more effective regarding the PET crystallization compared to the other types of organo-clays. The I.30E organo-clay nanocomposite exhibited also the higher immobilized amorphous fraction and the higher nucleation parameter K_g in the Lauritzen-Hoffman analysis. This is due to its better dispersion and exfoliation of the clay nanolayers into the PET matrix, compared to the other organoclays.