A novel approach in preparing polymer/nano-CaCO composites

Abstract

An novel compounding process using nano-CaCO₃ aqueous suspension for preparing polymer/nano-CaCO₃ composites with nanoparticles dispersed at the nanoscale is reported. The process is called the mild mixing method. In this method, the pre-dispersed nanoparticle suspensions are blended with melting polymers in a weak shearing field using an extruder, followed by removing the water from the vent. The four typical polymeric nanocomposites were prepared by mild mixing method. The dispersion of nano-CaCO₃ in the matrix of the polymer at the nanoscale was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The molecular weights of polycarbonate (PC) and its nanocomposite showed that the degradation had not occurred during the mild mixing processing. The mechanical properties of the composite with 1.5 wt-% nano-CaCO₃ improve slightly. It proved that this approach is suitable for the preparation of nanocomposites based on both polar and non-polar polymers.

Keywords

nanoparticles, mild mixing, polar and non-polar polymer, dispersion