Enhanced mechanical properties of Nylon6 nanocomposites containing pristine α-zirconium phosphate nanoplatelets of various sizes by melt-compounding

Nylon6 nanocomposites containing pristine layered alpha-zirconium phosphate (ZrP) nanoplatelets of various sizes have been fabricated by a simple and direct melt-compounding method without adding intercalation or exfoliation agents. Owing to the excellent compatibility between the nanofillers and Nylon6, the pristine ZrP nanoplatelet nanocrystallites were well dispersed and homogeneously distributed into the polymer matrices during the melt processing, but still maintained their original layered state as observed by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Tensile testing and dynamic mechanical analysis on the Nylon6/ZrP nanocomposites illustrate that the size and concentration of the pristine ZrP nanoplatelets have a profound effect on the mechanical properties of such prepared polymer nanocomposites. The improvement of the mechanical reinforcement for the Nylon6 nanocomposites does not show a steady increase with the increase in the size and concentration of the embedded pristine ZrP nanoplatelets, but displays the maximum for the pristine ZrP nanoplatelets with a size ranging from 600 nm to 800 nm at a concentration of similar to 3.0-5.0% in the polymer matrices. The mechanisms that are responsible for the mechanical reinforcement of thermoplastic polymer matrices by the embedded pristine ZrP nanoplatelets, as well as their comparisons with corresponding epoxy nanocomposites, are also discussed.