Investigating the effect of nanolayered silicates on blend segmental dynamics and minor component relaxation behavior in poly(ethylene oxide)/poly(methyl methacrylate) miscible blends

Abstract

Abstract Polymer–silicate nanocomposites based on poly (ethylene oxide), PEO, poly(methyl methacrylate), PMMA, and sodium montmorillonite clay were fabricated and characterized to investigate the effect of nanolayered silicates on segmental dynamics of PEO/PMMA blends. X‐ray results indicate the formation of an exfoliated morphology in the nanocomposites. At low silicate contents, an enhancement in segmental dynamics of blend nanocomposites and also PEO, minor component in blend, is observed at temperature region below blend glass transition. This result can be attributed to the improvement of the confinement effect of rigid PMMA matrix on the PEO chains by introducing a low amount of layered silicates. On the other hand, at high silicate contents, an enhancement in segmental dynamics of blend nanocomposites and PEO is observed at temperature region above blend glass transition. This behavior could be interpreted based on the reduction of monomeric friction between two polymer components, which can facilitate segmental motions of blend components in nanocomposite systems. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011