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The Effect of Carbon Nanofibers and Nanoclay Particles on Polystyrene Foam Morphology

Shah, Jay
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1420207026

Abstract Details

2007, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
Novel polymer nanocomposite foams can help in cutting down the cost of several products, equipments, energy, etc. in numerous industries which is one reason why polymeric and plastic foams industry is valued in billions of dollars today. This study involves synthesis of polymer nanocomposites prepared by reinforcing nanoclays and carbon nanofibers (CNF) in polystyrene matrix using different methods of syntheses. Two methods for the synthesis of PS/CNF composites are compared and analyzed. Also, intercalated PS/Clay composite foams are compared with exfoliated PS/Clay composite foams. The main objective of this research study is to analyze the properties of the foamed samples of PS/CNF and PS/Clay composites. Batch foaming process is used for the preparation of the foams. In addition, this research also compares the effect of small changes in the diameter of the unfoamed sample on the properties of the foams. The effect of the length/thickness of the nanofiller particles and the number of nanofillers in the polymer matrix on the properties of the foams is evaluated. Bubble density and bubble size of different types of polymer nanocomposite foams mentioned above are determined and compared with respect to the concentration, nanofiller surface area and the number of nanoparticles in the polymer matrix. Overall, this research is significant due to the increasing demand of the lightweight, strong and multifunctional polymer nanocomposite foams. To examine the effect of concentration of nanofillers in the polymer matrix, each type of polymer nanocomposite synthesized in this thesis consists of 1%, 3% and 5% by weight of nanofiller in the PS matrix. Three samples of every type of polymer nanocomposite were foamed at all the concentrations mentioned above including three samples of pure polystyrene foam. For the foams of the PS/CNF composites synthesized using melt-blending (MB) technique, the bubble density increases and the bubble size decreases with increasing concentration of the CNF particles, total CNF surface area and number of CNF particles in the matrix. Similarly, bubble density increases and bubble size decreases with increasing CNF concentration, total CNF surface area and number of CNF particles in the matrix for the foams of PS/CNF composites synthesized using solvent casting (SC) method. Length of the CNFs in the PS/CNF SC composites is found to be ~1.75 times the length of the CNFs in the PS/CNF MB composites. Average length of a CNF in PS/CNF MB composites is determined to be around 2667 nm whereas an average length of a CNF in PS/CNF SC composites is evaluated to be around 5333 nm. The diameter of an unfoamed PS/CNF SC composite sample is measured to be around 0.093 in. whereas the diameter for an unfoamed PS/CNF MB composite sample is measured to be around 0.1015 in. The difference in the foam morphologies of the foam produced by samples with the diameters discussed above is found to be insignificant. Hence, this small a difference in the diameters of the unfoamed samples can be neglected while comparing the foam morphology of PS/CNF MB foams and PS/CNF SC foams. The CNF particles are shown to form clusters in the matrix of the PS/CNF SC composites and hence, the SEM micrographs show a varying bubble density at different places on the same SEM micrograph. PS/CNF MB composites show uniform distribution of the CNFs all around the matrix. For the PS/Clay intercalated foams, the bubble density increases and the bubble size decreases with increasing clay concentration, clay surface area and number of clay tactoids in the matrix. No specific trend was observed for the case of PS/Clay exfoliated foams as the results obtained from different trials for a specific concentration were not quite reproducible within three attempts. Reproducing results for PS/Clay exfoliated trials was tougher and hence, several trials are suggested for every concentration to detect a pattern in the data for the exfoliated PS/Clay composite foams. Amongst the other three different types of foams investigated in this study, PS/Clay intercalated foams seem to show the highest number of bubbles per cc of foam. The number of clay tactoids present in the polymer matrix in the intercalated case is an order to a couple orders of magnitude higher than number of CNF particles present in the matrices of PS/CNF foams. The bubbles nucleated were the smallest in size for these intercalated foams. Amongst the two different types of PS/CNF foams, the foams synthesized from the PS/CNF MB composites showed a higher bubble density with smaller sized bubbles in the polymer matrix as compared to the foams of PS/CNF SC composites. Due to the smaller lengths of the fibers in PS/CNF MB composites, the number of CNF particles in the polymer matrix is higher in the PS/CNF MB composites as compared PS/CNF SC composites.
Kurt W. Koelling (Advisor)
Isamu Kusaka (Committee Member)
112 p.
Chemical Engineering

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Shah, J. (2007). The Effect of Carbon Nanofibers and Nanoclay Particles on Polystyrene Foam Morphology [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1420207026

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Shah, Jay. The Effect of Carbon Nanofibers and Nanoclay Particles on Polystyrene Foam Morphology. 2007. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1420207026.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Shah, Jay. "The Effect of Carbon Nanofibers and Nanoclay Particles on Polystyrene Foam Morphology." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1420207026

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1420207026
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© 2007, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.