Development of recyclable electron beam radiation crosslinked LDPE/'EVA-embedded nanoclay' nanocomposites

Electron beam crosslinking of polymeric material is an attractive mean nowadays for developing high-performance material. But recycling of polymer is becoming a problem due to high degree of strong crosslinked network formation. Our goal was to develop polymer-based materials, where the desired properties were improved by a satisfactory degree, partially by nanoscale filler (nanoclay) incorporation, and partially by low degree of electron beam crosslinking maintaining the material's processability, crystallinity, and recyclability. Clay particles were dispersed into nanoscale in elastomeric poly (ethylene vinyl acetate) phase. These 'poly (ethylene vinyl acetate) embedded nanoclay' based nanobuilding blocks were dispersed into low-density polyethylene to form organic-inorganic nanohybrid (nanocomposite) followed by high-energy electron beam crosslinking of polymeric phases to improve the interested properties in a greater extent. The increase of the interlayer distance ('d' values) in X-ray diffraction (wide angle X-ray diffraction) confirmed nanocomposite formation. From thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and tensile testing it was noticed that thermal stability, crystallinity, and mechanical properties of the materials were improved by nanoclay incorporation as well as by electron beam crosslinking. Nanoclay incorporation increased the properties but up to a certain clay loading, above which polymer degraded in presence of clay. Due to combined effect of clay dispersion and low degree of electron beam crosslinking, properties of the materials were improved satisfactorily leaving a potential of the material to be recycled properly. Design flexibility is also increased due to less amount of crosslink incorporation.