Mechanical, thermal, structural and morphological characterization of polybutylene terephthalate nanocomposites containing organoclays

Polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) nanocomposites loaded with two different types of organoclays are fabricated using melt-mixing technique in a twin-screw extruder. Quaternary ammonium salts with dimethyl, benzyl, hydrogenated tallow and dimethyl, dehydrogenated tailed modified Turkish organoclays (trade names of esanNANO 2-130 and esanNANO 1-140, Eczacıbaşı Esan, İstanbul, Turkey) are blended with PBT (Advanite SB88, Sasa Polyester A.Ş., Adana, Turkey) at the compositions of 1%, 3%, 5% and 10% weight ratios. Test samples are shaped using lab-scale injection molding device. Mechanical, thermo-mechanical, thermal stability, melt-flow, structural and morphological behaviors of the nanocomposite samples are investigated by performing tensile, impact and shore hardness tests, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), melt flow rate measurements and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) methods, respectively.