Abstract—Interest in polymer nanocomposites bloomed over
the last decades due to its unusual property improvements. A
novel nanocomposite consisting of Na
+ montmorillonite
nanoclay and polyurethane nanocomposite was successfully
prepared using solution intercalation method. Nanoclay was
modified using transition metal ions which were copper (II)
chloride and iron (III) chloride to achieve good dispersion and
to reduce clay agglomerations. The modification process proved
to be successful through SEM micrographs. Gas permeability
test was carried out in a Membrane Separation Testing Unit.
Significant improvements in barrier properties were observed
with the addition of modified montmorillonite. A remarkable
four fold decrease was seen in polyurethane incorporated with
1% modified iron followed by a nearly threefold decrease in
polyurethane incorporated with 1% modified copper when
tested with oxygen gas. Polyurethane incorporated with 1%
modified iron and copper also showed dramatic decreases of
60% and 50% respectively when tested with nitrogen gas.
Index Terms—Modification, montmorillonite, polyurethane,
nanocomposites
Shamini Gunaseelan and Kamal Yusoh are with the Faculty of Chemical
& Natural Resources Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, 26300
Gambang, Pahang, Malaysia (e-mail:shamini_88@hotmail.com)
[PDF]
Cite: G. Shamini and K. Yusoh, "Gas Permeability Properties of Thermoplastic
Polyurethane Modified Clay Nanocomposites," International Journal of Chemical Engineering and Applications vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 64-68, 2014.
