Nanocomposites Based on Vermiculite Clay and Ternary Blend of Poly(L-lactic acid), Poly(methyl methacrylate), and Poly(ethylene oxide)

Vermiculite (VMT) as clay was introduced into a ternary polymer blend composed of poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), whose ternary miscibility was proven within low certain contents of PMMA and PEO in PLLA. VMT was incorporated to the ternary polymer blend as matrix after proper organic modification on the clay. The organically modified vermiculite (OVMT) shows good interaction and acceptable dispersion in the ternary polymer matrix without altering the crystal structures of PLLA/PEO constituents. The effect of OVMT addition was then analyzed in isothermal crystallization by using the Avrami kinetic analysis, and the addition of OVMT is evident in altering nucleation process of the polymer blend as well as the crystal perfection. The activation energy is much lowered by the addition of OVMT, as evident from the analysis; the overall crystallization kinetic rates are increased with the incorporation of OVMT. POLYM. COMPOS., 32:1916-1926, 2011. (C) 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers