Experimental Investigation on Swelling Behavior, Hardness and Abrasion Resistance of Polyurethane/organoclay Nanocomposites

In recent years, polymer/clay nanocomposites have attracted great attention, due to their excellent physical and mechanical properties. These engineering materials are composed of a pristine polymer and usually an organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT). Polyurethanes (PUs) have widespread applications as coatings, adhesives, foams, rubbers and thermoplastic elastomers [1]. Although these polymers possess good mechanical properties such as high abrasion resistance, tear strength, flexibility and elasticity [2], however it is supposed that these properties could be even improved using OMMT nano-fillers. In this work PU/OMMT nanocomposites are prepared via in-situ polymerization and then the swelling in solvent, crosslinking density, hardness, and abrasion resistance of nanocomposites are investigated