Preparation and properties of poly(vinyl alcohol)/exfoliated α-zirconium phosphate nanocomposite films

In this work, poly(vinylalcohol)(PVA)/exfoliated alpha-zirconium phosphate(e-alpha-ZrP) nanocomposites of various compositions were created by a solution casting method. The alpha-ZrP compound was synthesized by refluxing. The characteristic properties of the PVA/e-alpha-ZrP composite films were examined by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and tensile tests. Tensile tests indicated that with the loading of e-a-ZrP, the tensile strength and the elongation at break were increased by 17.3% and 26.6% compared to neat PVA, respectively. It is noteworthy that optimum film properties were obtained with 0.8 wt% e-alpha-ZrP, and higher proportions of e-alpha-ZrP may be related to the aggregation of e-a-ZrP particles and deterioration of the film properties. On the whole, the nanocomposite PVA/e-alpha-ZrP systems had mechanical and thermal properties which were superior to that of the neat polymer and its conventionally filled composites. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.