Water-assisted intercalation/exfoliation of PE/Clay nanocomposites: Lamellar crystal thickness distribution and its effect on mechanical properties

By development of polymer-clay nanocomposites in recent years,the enhancement of dispersion state has always been considered as a key component toward improved properties. Recently, water-assisted extrusion has been used as an efficient way to improve dispersion state of nanocomposites [1]. Although, the effect of this method on crystallization behaviour of nanocomposites, has not been studied in detail yet. In this work, lamellar crystal thickness distribution of samples prepared by this method and its effect on mechanical properties is investigated.