Reinforcement Mechanism Of Polyurethane-Urea/Clay Nanocomposites Probed By Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy And Dynamic Mechanical Analysis

A basis for quantitative analysis of the reinforcement mechanism of polyurethane-urea/clay nanocomposites using two characterization methods, positron annihilation life time spectroscopy (PALS) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) is provided. DMA was used to measure the constrained volume fraction of amorphous soft segments induced by nanoclay and the storage modulus of the nanocomposites. The interfacial interactions in the nanocomposites were investigated by PALS. The modulus enhancement of the organoclay nanocomposites was found to have a good correlation with the volume fraction of the constrained region and the interfacial interactions.