Photooxidation Behavior of a LDPE/Clay Nanocomposite Monitored through Creep Measurements
by
Francesco Paolo La Mantia 1,*, Mario Biondo 1, Maria Chiara Mistretta 1, Fiorenza Sutera 1 and Marco Morreale 2
1
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
2
Facoltà di Ingegneria e Architettura, Università di Enna “Kore”, Cittadella Universitaria, 94100 Enna, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Polymers 2017, 9(8), 308; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym9080308
Received: 26 June 2017 / Revised: 17 July 2017 / Accepted: 19 July 2017 / Published: 26 July 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Nanocomposites)
Creep behavior of polymer nanocomposites has not been extensively investigated so far, especially when its effects are combined with those due to photooxidation, which are usually studied in completely independent ways. In this work, the photooxidation behavior of a low density polyethylene/organomodified clay nanocomposite system was monitored by measuring the creep curves obtained while subjecting the sample to the combined action of temperature, tensile stress, and UV radiation. The creep curves of the irradiated samples were found to be lower than those of the non-irradiated ones and progressively diverging, because of the formation of branching and cross-linking due to photooxidation. This was further proved by the decrease of the melt index and the increase of the intrinsic viscosity; at the same time, the formation of carbonyl groups was observed. This behavior was more observable in the nanocomposite sample, because of its faster photooxidation kinetics.
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Keywords:
creep; photooxidation; nanocomposites
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MDPI and ACS Style
La Mantia, F.P.; Biondo, M.; Mistretta, M.C.; Sutera, F.; Morreale, M. Photooxidation Behavior of a LDPE/Clay Nanocomposite Monitored through Creep Measurements. Polymers 2017, 9, 308.
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