Reinforcement of Polyamide 66 with Polyoxometalates Nanoparticles through the In Situ Sol-Gel Method
This paper investigated the influence of the nanoparticles on the thermal and mechanical properties of PA66 and various nanocomposites containing different weight fraction of polyoxometalate nanoparticles were prepared. The structural features of the nanocomposite are characterised using TEM, ATR-FITR, DMA and TGA. The results show that nanoparticles, around 5.5 nm in size are well-dispersed inside the polymer matrix. The physical interaction between PA66 and the POM nanoparticles led to a significant effect on the thermal and mechanical properties of PA66. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) revealed a considerable change in the storage modulus of the nanocomposite. With only 1wt% of POM, the storage modulus of PA66 at 25oC is enhanced by 45%. Furthermore, the thermal stability of the nanocomposite is also enhanced, possibly owing to the absorption of oxygen by the nanoparticles. The results demonstrated that the obtained nanocomposites, via the combination of the excellent mechanical and thermal properties of PA66 with the intriguing optical, electrical and chemical properties of POM, were promising for catalytic, energy storage, memory devices, automobile and construction applications.