Formation of reinforcing inorganic network in polymer via hydrogen bonding self-assembly process

The formation of reinforcing inorganic network in crystalline plastics through hydrogen bonding self-assembly process was analyzed. Naturally occurred halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) and silica as the inorganic hydrogen bonding couplers (IHC) and several organic species including melamine (MEL), melamine cyanurate (MCA) as the organic hydrogen-bonding couplers (OHC) were used. The pair of IHC and OHC formed strong inorganic network via hydrogen bonding in the polypropylene during processing. X-Ray photoelectron spectra of MEL and HNTs/MEL mixture were recorded by using an X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer with an aluminum (mono) Kα source. The morphologies of the crystallites of the composites were recorded with an Olympus BX41 polarized optical microscopy, and flexural moduli of the composites were measured with a instron 4465 Universal tester. The result shows that the inclusions of all the OHC are beneficial to the improvement in the modulus.