A novel approach for producing polymer nanocomposites by in-situ dispersion of clay particles via friction stir processing

A novel method based on friction stir processing was developed for fabrication of polymer/clay nanocomposites to enhance the dispersion state of nanoclay particles and surface mechanical properties. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, microhardness and rheological analysis were employed to investigate the effect of processing parameters on morphology and surface mechanical properties. An attempt was made to establish correlations between the significantly enhanced microhardness values and FSP-induced dispersion of nanoclay.