Structural relaxation of amorphous PET matrix nanocomposites

Polymer nanocomposites are usually studied by means of different techniques, being wide angle X - ray diffraction (WAXD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) the most commonly used. Although WAXD offers a convenient method to determine the interlayer spacing of the silicate layers in the intercalated nanocomposites, little can be said about the spatial distribution of the silicate layers or any structural non-homogeneities in nanocomposites. On the other hand, TEM is very time-intensive, and only gives qualitative information on the sample as a whole, due to the small investigable area [ ]. In this work, PETg nanocomposites were produced by melt intercalation of omMMT at different temperatures. Nanocomposites were characterized by means of WAXD and TEM analysis, showing that XRD is only able to capture some of the basic features of the nanocomposite morphology. Further, DSC analysis revealed the relevance of the degree of intercalation on the relaxation times of the nanocomposite