Volume 18, Issue 6, 2009

THE EFFECT OF PP-g-MA/MONTMORILLONITE RATIO ON THE RHEOLOGICAL BEHAVIOUR OF POLYPROPYLENE/MONTMORILLONITE NANOCOMPOSITES

S. Chaoui¹*, A. Mehamha¹, J-M.Lefebvre², V.Miri², R.Seguela², D.Benachour¹, N.H.Belkhame¹, M.L.Cerrada<sup>3

1</sup> Laboratoire des matériaux polymériques multiphasiques (LMPPM), Department de génie des procédés, Faculté des sciences de l’ingénieur, Université de Sétif, 19000 Sétif, Algerie
² Laboratoire Structure et Propriétés de l’Etat Solide, Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille/CNRS, 59655 Villeneuve d’Ascq, France
³ Instituto de Ciencia Technologia de Polymeros (CSIC), Juan de la Cierva 3, 28006 Madrid, Spain.

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed

Received N/A; accepted N/A

ABSTRACT
Nanocomposites polypropylene and modified montmorillonite were prepared by mixture in the melted state using an internal mixer. The effect of the PP-g-MA/Mmt-C₁₈ ratio on the quality of clay dispersion was exam¬ined. Results obtained showed that clay is mainly intercalated. The mixture whose PP-g-MA/Mmt-C₁₈ ratio is 3/1 presents the best dispersion of clay. The microstructure and scaling of rheological properties of polypropylene/montmorillonite nanocomoposite have been investigated. The dynamic modulus follows a power law of the type G’ ~ m_ps. This evolution show tow zone with different values of the critical exponent s, which can give information about dominant forces in the formed structure.

Keywords: Nanocomposites, Montmorillonite, polypropylene, Dispersion, dynamic Rheology, Cole-Cole plots, power law.