Prediction of Long-Term Mechanical Properties of PVDF/BaTiO3 Nanocomposite

Low elastic modulus of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is a major drawback that can be compensated by adding nanoparticles. This work reports the long-term mechanical behavior of PVDF nanocomposite containing BaTiO3 nanoparticle that is evaluated by creep test. The nanocomposite morphology was characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy techniques. The dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) was employed to study the viscoelastic behavior of nanocomposite in a wide range of temperatures and frequencies. According to the creep tests, nanocomposite reduced the rate of the creep compliance at different temperatures. Moreover, the creep compliance for the nanocomposite sample decreased slightly in comparison with neat PVDF. Comparing the Burger's model and experimental results, the elastic and viscous parameters revealed the exactly opposite behavior with increasing temperature. The effect of frequencies on storage moduli of samples was investigated based on time-temperature superposition (TTS) method. (c) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40596.