Effect of modified clay on mechanical and morphological properties of ethylene octane copolymer–polypropylene nanocomposites

Ethylene octane copolymer–polypropylene (PP) blend was optimized at 30 wt% of ethylene octane copolymer with PP and the same ratio was kept constant for preparing ethylene octane copolymer–PP nanocomposites (70/30). The nanocomposites were prepared with commercially modified organoclays (C20A and C30B) and laboratory-modified organoclays (OMMT-I and OMMT-II) in the ratio of 3, 5, and 7 wt%. The compatibilizer polypropylene-grafted maleic anhydride (PP- g-MA) was used to get the exfoliated nanocomposites in the ratio of 5, 10, and 15 wt% for C20A, C30B, OMMT-I, and OMMT-II nanocomposites. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results indicated the formation of well-exfoliated morphology at 5 wt% of organoclay and 5 wt% of PP- g-MA compatibilizer. The increase in tensile properties due to the reinforcing effect imparted by organoclays along with high aspect ratio of the clay pallets allowed a greater degree of stress transfer at the interface.