Structure and creep response of toughened and nanoreinforced polyamides produced via the latex route: Effect of nanofiller type

Ternary composites composed of polyamide-6 (PA-6), hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HNBR) and sodium fluorohectorite (FH) or boehmite alumina (BA) were produced by melt blending with latex precompounding. The latter served for the predispersion of the FH and BA nanoparticles. The related masterbatch (MB) was produced by mixing the HNBR latex with water dispersible BA or water swellable FH. The dispersion of the nanofillers in the composites was studied by scanning and transmission electron microscopy techniques (SEM and TEM, respectively) and discussed. The thermomechanical and creep properties of the composites were determined in short-time creep tests (performed at various temperatures) and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), respectively. The melt flow of the composites was characterized in a plate/plate rheometer. PA-6/HNBR/FH composites produced by the MB technique outperformed the PA-6/HNBR/BA systems in respect to most of the mechanical and viscoelastic characteristics. This was attributed to the preferred location of FH in the PA-6 matrix and to its higher aspect ratio compared to BA.