The catalyzing carbonization properties of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS)/rare earth oxide (La2O3)/organophilic montmorillonite(OMT) nanocomposites

The catalyzing carbonization properties of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS) /rare earth oxide (La2O3) /organophilic montmorillonite(OMT) nanocomposites have been studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM),thermogravimetric analyses (TGA), laser raman spectroscopy (LSR) and high-resolution electron microscopy (HRTEM) are used to characterize the morphology and properties of the nanocomposites. The results show that intercalated nanocomposites have formed no matter with or without La2O3, and nanocomposites have better thermal stability with high charred residue, especially at the presence of La2O3. With the addition of 3wt%La2O3, the char residue yield of ABS/5wt% OMT can be up to 12.6wt% in comparison to 2.4wt% of pure ABS. The LSR and HRTEM are carried out to investigate the structure of the purified char residue of ABS/5wt%OMT/3wt%La2O3, and demonstrate the formation of the graphite structure. The possible catalyzing carbonization mechanism is discussed in this paper.