Effects of plasma accelerated ageing on a co-polymer reinforced with nanoclay.

The novel plasma ageing technique has been used to investigate the effects of different treatment times of a co-polymer reinforced with montmorillonite nanoclay, where the effects of plasma ageing of the reinforced acrylic co-polymer (BA, STY and MAA) were obtained with nanoclay (sodium MMT) at different concentrations. The molecular weights of the samples were obtained by observing the change in the viscosity of the nonreinforced polymers, as well as an analysis of the thermal properties using the thermogravimetric analysis technique to determine their thermal stability, which showed an early decomposition of the exposed nanoreinforced materials to plasma concerning the reference sample 0 min. The differential scanning calorimetry analysis showed an increase in the glass transition temperature when adding the nanoreinforcement, but a decrease with saturation, likewise, it was observed that when adding this nanoreinforcement (MMT) to the polymeric matrix this protects the matrix when exposed to plasma. This acquires an increase in elastic modulus, which indicates a fragility in the nanomaterial. The structure of the nanocomposite was studied by means of the X-ray diffraction technique of the samples exposed to plasma treatment, obtaining patterns where intercalated nanocomposites are present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]