Papers by Author: Sie Chin Tjong

Abstract: Polyamide 6 (PA6) based nanocomposites toughened with 20 wt% maleated styrene-ethylene-butylene-stryrene (mSEBS) reinforced with 1-7 wt% silicon carbide nanoparticles (SiCp) were fabricated via melt blending followed by injection molding. Tensile results showed that SiCp additions improve the Young’s modulus and tensile strength of PA6/mSEBS blends but decrease their tensile ductility and impact strength. EWF test revealed that the SiCp additions reduce both the specific essential work of fracture and specific non-essential plastic work of fracture. Thus SiCp additions are detrimental to the fracture toughness of PA6/mSEBS blend.

Abstract: High density polyethylene (HDPE)/organoclay nanocomposites toughened with maleated styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene elastomer (SEBS-g-MA) were prepared by melt compounding. The structure and mechanical properties of such nanocomposites were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), tensile and impact techiniques. XRD measurements showed that meleic anhydride group of SEBS elastomer was beneficial in forming an intercalated or partially exfoliated structure. The essential work of fracture (EWF) approach under tensile condition was used to characterize the fracture toughness of nanocomposites. The results indicated that the addition of SEBS-g-MA to the HDPE/organoclay nanocomposites greatly enhanced their fracture toughness.