Effects of organoclay on the phase characteristics of biodegrad-able aliphatic polyester (BAP) and poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) blends

초록

We examined the effects of organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT) on immis-cible biodegradable aliphatic polyester (BAP) and poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) blend via thermal, morphological and rheological investigations as a function of clay concentration at a fixed blend-ing ratio, in this study. Due to the nanoscopic interaction of OMMT with two different coun-terparts (BAP and PVAc), we could increase their miscibility with OMMT loading. For exam-ple, two-step thermal decomposition in BAP/PVAc blend changed to single step. In ad-dition, the phase separation in pristine blend showed distinctly different morphologies in the polymer/inorganic hybrid. In this case, we em-ployed selective etching technique to dissolve a specific polymer domain (PVAc). Consequently, PVAc domains were observed easily, since only the PVAc fraction is soluble. The size of these PVAc domains decreased with increasing or-ganoclay concentration. Viscoelastic properties in molten state were also performed to explore the role of OMMT in immiscible polymer blend.