Polyamide-6 nanocomposites with electron-beam-treated clay

The 'in situ' polymerisation principle has been applied in our work to modify the efficiency of montmorillonite (MMT) as a reinforcement in polymer composites. The dry silica powder of MMT has been dispersed in (2-hydroxyethyl)-methacrylate (HEMA) monomer, and it has been treated by electron-beam (EB) and by heat. The treated silica powder has been mixed in polyamide (PA) melt by a Brabender kneader. The solid polymer samples have been tested for mechanical features as well as for dynamic-mechanical properties (DMA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Surprisingly the thermally initiated 'in situ' polymerisation was more efficient than 150 kGy EB dose in improving the composite properties