Thermophysical properties of maleated poly-ethylene/layered silicate nanocomposites

Nanocomposites are a new class of composites in which the reinforcing phase dimensions are in the order of nanometer scale. In particular, the layered silicates are considered to be good candidates for the preparation of polymer-inorganic nanocomposites. The mechanical and thermal properties of polymer can be altered by adding a few vol% of nanoparticles. In this study, we focused on the effect of the nano-sized particles on thermophysical properties such as melting and crystallization, coefficient of thermal expansion, and thermal conductivity. We prepared the PEMA/layered silicate nanocomposites and the thermophysical properties were investigated by DSC, TMA, and 3/spl omega/ device. The content of layered silicate was varied from 0.5 vol.% to 5 vol.%.