Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Natural Rubber/Poly Lactic Acid /dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide Modified Clay Nanocomposites

Abstract

Abstract This paper tackles a me1t blend of po1y(lactic acid)/ natura1 rubber with dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide(DODAB) modified clay. The study investigated mechanical, therma1 and morpho1ogical properties of poly(lactic acid)/ natural rubber and nanocomposites. The paper also examined Montmori1lonite clay with alky1 ammonium ion of (DODAB). the studied parameters, PLA/ NR nanocomposites revealed 1arger enhancements in mechanical properties in comparison to PLA/ NR blend because of high polymer blend matrix shear forces exerted on clay aggregated during mixing po1ymer-clay. The original MMT with Na+ action leads to weak improvements in mechanica1 properties in comparison to organoclays. It is noted that the strength of tensile, modulus, and the nanocomposite samples can be improved with 4% of clay loading. The optimum samp1e morphology and chemical structure were tested by X-ray diffraction and FT-IR spectroscopy respectively. This paper denotes that poly(lactic acid)/ natural rubber-toughened nanocomposites with a higher modulus and in this way, thermal stability could be made.