Oxidized Wax as Compatibilizer in Linear Low-Density Polyethylene-Clay Nanocomposites: X-ray Diffraction and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis

Oxidized paraffin wax was used as a compatibilizer in composites of linear low-density polyethylene and layered nano silicate clays. X-ray diffraction analyses were carried out to investigate the crystalline morphology of five types of clays, oxidized wax, and their composites with LLDPE. The composites exhibited different X-ray diffraction and dynamic mechanical behaviour in the presence of different clays. Generally, the composites retained the partially crystalline behaviour of LLDPE, and no exfoliation was observed. Increased amount of wax did not change the morphology in most cases. The incorporation of clay resulted in an observable increase in the storage modulus of LLDPE. These values also increased with the addition of oxidized wax for most of the composites. The loss modulus increased with the amount of clay, irrespective of its nature. In most cases these values also increased with the incorporation of wax. The composites with 10% clay and 10% oxidized wax showed the highest storage and loss moduli, irrespective of the nature of the clay. The tan δ values did not change considerably with the addition of clay or wax.