Fluoroelastomer, clay

Maiti and Bhowmick also investigated the diffusion and sorption of methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and tetrahydrofuran (THE) through fluoroelastomer-clay nanocomposites in the range of 30°C-60°C by swelling experiments [98]. A representative sorption-plot (i.e., mass uptake versus square root of time, at 45°C for all the nanocomposite systems is given in Figure 2.12. 

Maiti and Bhowmick [205] have established a good correlation between the aspect ratio of clay in fluoroelastomer/clay nanocomposites and the transport properties of solvent. For fluoroelastomer/clay nanocomposites, permeability decreases significantly with the addition of only 4 phr of the unmodified mont-morillonite clay (0.14 x 10 s cm2 s ) compared with that of neat polymer (2.29 x 10 8 cm2 s-1)-... 

M. Maiti and A. K. Bhowmick, Effect of Polymer-Clay Interaction on Solvent Transport Behavior of Fluoroelastomer-Clay Nanocomposites and Prediction of Aspect Ratio of Nanoclay, Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 2007, 105, 435. 

Maiti and Bhowmick reported exciting results that a polar matrix like fluoroelastomer (Viton B-50) was able to exfoliate unmodified clay (Cloisite NA ) as well as the modified one (Cloisite 20A) [93]. They studied morphology, mechanical, dynamic mechanical and swelling properties of fluoroelastomer nanocomposites. The unmodified-clay-filled systems showed better properties than the modified ones (Table 2.3). 

The better interaction observed with the unmodifled clay was also explained in terms of surface energy. The values of surface energy of the fluoroelastomer and the clays, along with work of adhesion, spreading coefficient and interfacial tension are reported in Table 2.4. 

The X-ray diffraction peaks observed in the range of 3°-10° for the modified clays disappear in the rubber nanocomposites. photographs show predominantly exfoliation of the clays in the range of 12 4 nm in the BIMS. Consequently, excellent improvement in mechanical properties like tensile strength, elongation at break, and modulus is observed by the incorporation of the nanoclays in the BIMS. Maiti and Bhowmick have also studied the effect of solution concentration (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 wt%) on the properties of fluorocarbon clay nanocomposites [64]. They noticed that optimum properties are achieved at 20 wt% solution. At the optimized solution concentration, they also prepared rubber/clay nanocomposites by a solution mixing process using fluoroelastomer and different nanoclays (namely NA, 10A, 20A, and 30B) and the effect of these nanoclays on the mechanical properties of the nanocomposites has been reported, as shown in Table 4 [93]. 

In addition, Maiti and Bhowmick [93] also used fluoroelastomers having different microstructure and viscosity (Viton B-50, Viton B-600, Viton A-200, and VTR-8550). Viton is a terpolymer of vinylidene fluoride (VF2), hexafluoropropylene (HFP), and tetrafluoroethylene (TFE). Even with the addition of only 4 phr of clay in Viton B-50, the tensile strength and modulus improved by 30-96% and 80-134%, respectively, depending on the nature of the nanoclays. The better polymer-filler interaction in the case of NA clay and the fluoroelastomers has... 

---