Effect of Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate Copolymer on Properties of Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene/Zinc Oxide Nanocomposites

  • Sirirat Wacharawichanant Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Technology, Silpakorn University, Nakhon Pathom 73000, Thailand
  • Lalitwadee Noichin Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Technology, Silpakorn University, Nakhon Pathom 73000, Thailand
  • Sutharat Bannarak Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Technology, Silpakorn University, Nakhon Pathom 73000, Thailand
Keywords: Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene, Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate Copolymer, Zinc Oxide, Polymer Nanocomposites, Mechanical Properties, Morphology

Abstract

Mechanical and morphological properties of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS)/zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocomposites used ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) as compatibilizer were investigated. The ABS/ZnO nanocomposites without and with EVA 4 wt% were prepared by melting-blend with an internal mixer. The results showed that the addition of ZnO nanoparticles did not improve the mechanical properties of ABS/ZnO nanocomposites. The impact strength of the ABS/ZnO nanocomposites decreased with increasing ZnO content. The addition of EVA in ABS showed a decrease the impact strength but increased after adding ZnO in ABS/EVA matrix. The ABS/ZnO nanocomposites with EVA was higher the percent strain at break, but lower Young’s modulus, tensile strength and impact strength than the neat ABS and ABS/ZnO nanocomposites. The percent strain at break of ABS/ZnO nanocomposites increased with incorporation of EVA all ZnO compositions. However, the poor compatibility between ethylene in EVA and ABS matrix reduced as most of the mechanical properties of ABS/EVA/ZnO nanocomposites. The ZnO particle distributions in nanocomposites were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which observed that ZnO particles agglomerated in ABS and ABS/EVA matrix. The fractured surfaces of impact test samples were also observed through SEM and revealed that the ductile fracture of ABS was converted to brittle fracture with addition of ZnO.

References

1. Ali, I., Elleithy, R., Al-Zahrani, S. M., and Ali Mohsin, M. E. (2011). Viscoelastic, thermal, and morphological analysis of HDPE/EVA/CaCO3 ternary blends, Polym. Bull., 67, 1961.
2. Chae, D. W., and Kim, B. C. (2005). Characterization on polystyrene/zinc oxide nanocomposites prepared from solution mixing, Polym. Advan. Technol., 16, 846.
3. Deka, B. K., and Maji, T. K. (2012). Effect of nanoclay and ZnO on the physical and chemical properties of wood polymer nanocomposite, J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 124, 2919.
4. Kar, K. K., Srivastava, S., Rahaman, A., and Nayak, S.K. (2008). Acrylonitrile- butadiene-styrene nanocomposites filled with nanosized alumina, Polym. Compos., 29, 489.
5. Kontou, E., and Anthoulis, G. (2007). The effect of silica nanoparticles on the thermomechanical properties of polystyrene, J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 105,
1723. 6. Pöllänen, M., Pelz, U., Suvanto, M., and Pakkanen, T. T. (2010). Effective method
for dispersing SiO2 nanoparticles into polyethylene, J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 116,
1218.
7. Wang, W., Wang, G. Q., Zeng, X. F., Shao, L., and Chen, J. F. (2008). Preparation and properties of nano-CaCO3/acrylonitrile- butadiene-styrene composites, J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 107, 3609.
8. Yang, K., Yang, Q., Li, G., Sun, Y., and Feng D. (2006). Morphology and mechanical properties of polypropylene/calcium carbonate nanocomposites, Mater. Lett., 60, 805.
Published
2013-12-31
How to Cite
Wacharawichanant, S., Noichin, L., & Bannarak, S. (2013). Effect of Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate Copolymer on Properties of Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene/Zinc Oxide Nanocomposites. ASEAN Journal of Chemical Engineering, 13(1), 18-24. Retrieved from https://dev.journal.ugm.ac.id/v3/AJChE/article/view/8137
Section
Articles