Thermal Properties and Morphology of Isotactic Polypropylene/Acrylonitrile-Butadiene Rubber Blends in the Presence and Absence of a Nanoclay

A thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) nanocomposite based on polypropylene (PP), acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR), and a nanoclay (NC) was prepared in a laboratory mixer with a 54/40/6 weight ratio. The effects of NC on the thermal properties, crystalline structure, and phase morphology of the TPE nanocomposite were studied in this work. The results obtained from the nonisothermal crystallization of PP, PP/NBR, and PP/NBR/NC, which was carried out with differential scanning calorimetry, revealed that the overall rate of crystallization of PP decreased with the addition of NBR to PP and increased when NC was incorporated into the nanocomposite. In addition, the crystallite size distribution was more uniform for the PP phase crystallized in the nanocomposite versus the PP itself. Also, although the PP in the reference blend (PP/NBR) crystallized only in the a form, the crystalline structure of the PP incorporated into the nanocomposite was a mixture of a-and c-crystalline forms. The effects of NC on the phase morphology of PP/NBR blends prepared with three different cooling methods (quenching in liquid nitrogen, cooling between two metal plates at room temperature, and molding at a high temperature in a hot press) were studied. For the samples quenched in liquid nitrogen or cooled between metal plates, a particulate-cocontinuous morphology formed. However, for the samples prepared under a hot press, a laminar-like morphology was observed. In all three cases, a similar particulate-cocontinuous morphology formed for the reference blend, but the rubber inclusions were always smaller than those of the TPE nanocomposite. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 121: 1365-1371, 2011