Characterization of Glass Fibre Reinforced Elastomeric Nanocomposites with Different Loading Levels of Nano Filler

Abstract

Polymer nanocomposite is very attractive field of research and a lot of work is going on across the world in this area. But it is a considerable fact that research work on elastomers is still in its infant stage. As we know that elastomers are used in many engineering applications. So its intense investigation by intercalation of micro and nano particles can lead to valuable products which can replace the neat elastomer with improved properties at low cost. Here we chose the most widely used rubber i.e. Ethylene Propylene Diene Elastomer (EPDM) for my research work. EPDM/OMMT clay nanocomposites have been synthesized by solution intercalation method using organically modified montmorillonite clay and then glass fibre reinforcement was done to this EPDM/OMMT clay nano composite. Characterization of the prepared specimens at different loading levels of clay (viz. 2 percentage weight, 3 percentage weight and 5 percentage weight) was done by checking the mechanical properties (tensile strength and bending strength), solvent swelling behavior, intermolecular dispersion through XRD & SEM and thermal stability through TGA apparatus. Comparative study between glass fibre reinforced pure EPDM speciemen and EPDM/ clay nano composite specimens has been done in my thesis work. It has been found that this tensile strength of 3 percentage weight clay exhibited very high gain as compared to neat EPDM specimen. The flexural strength and modulus are also higher for EPDM/clay hybrids than that of neat EPDM. Thermal stability of nano composites are also improved shown by TGA results