EVA copolymer/clay nanocomposite films processing conditions and the effect on barrier properties

Abstract

Nanocomposite materials with layered clay used as nanofiller and copolymer ethylene and vinyl acetate matrix (EVA, the content of VA component l9 wt. % and 5% wt.) were prepared by compounding the individual components in KO Buss kneader. The MMT Na+ and four types of commercial products such as Nanofil N 5 and N3000, Cloisite 93A and 30B were used as nanofillers. The quantity of all the above-mentioned nanofillers was 3 and 5 wt. % in relation to the content of montmorillonite. The aim was to evaluate the influence of VA content on resulting nanocomposite properties. The morphology of nanocomposite EVA/clay samples was examined by means of transmission electronic microscopy TEM. Furthermore, mechanical and especially barrier properties were observed. Despite the fact that the XRD and microscopy results have revealed that complete exfoliation did not take place in any case, mechanic properties as well as the permeability measurements show that 3% concentration of clay was enough to achieve the improvement of properties the improvement of properties. Nanofiller Nanofil 5 might be the most suitable for the above-mentioned polymeric matrix. The better properties were achieved for then version of EVA with higher VA content, but not in every observed property. © 2018 Author(s).