A comprehensive study of polypropylene/organoclay nanocomposites: preparation, material characterisation and numerical simulation

Abstract

The development of polymer/clay nanocomposites faces the enormous challenge tooffer the consistent mechanical properties for the end users. Such obstacle is derivedfrom the lack of in-depth knowledge of the effects of the individual processingparameter and manufacturing methodology. Furthermore, a more reliable numericalapproach to predict their mechanical properties is still at its infant stage despite theavailable micromechanical models in conventional composite systems and therepresentative volume element (RVE) models to greatly simplify the filler’sgeometry, shape and aspect ratio. This paper elaborates a comprehensive study on thedetermination of optimal formulation in the melt compounding, materialcharacterisation and real morphology-based numerical simulation of polypropylene(PP)/organoclay nanocomposites in order to offer a greater insight for the researchersand engineers of properly handling the nanocomposites.