Micromechanical Modeling of Polyamide 11 Nanocomposites Properties using Composite Theories

The use of organically modified clays as nano-reinforcement in polymer matrices is widely investigated owing to their remarkable reinforcement at low filler loading. In this body of work, the nanocomposites were prepared by melt blending nanoclay with polyamide 11 (PA 11) utilising a twin-screw extruder in order to maximise the dispersion of clay particles within the matrix during compounding. The main aim of the work was to study the reinforcing effect of nanoclay within PA 11 using two micromechanical model namely Halpin-Tsai and Mori-Tanaka composite theories. These theories were used to predict the effective tensile modulus of PA 11 nanocomposites and the results were compared to the experimental data. In addition, the Halpin-Tsai model was used to predict the storage modulus and heat distortion temperature (HDT) of PA 11 nanocomposites. It was found that the tensile modulus for nanocomposites with a high clay aspect ratio exhibits up to 10% higher when compared to the nanocomposites with lower clay aspect ratio. Thus, it is believed that the combination of clay aspect ratio and modulus contributes to the super reinforcing effect of nanoclay within the PA 11 matrix.