Synthesis of Aluminum Phosphate-Coated Halloysite Nanotubes: Effects on Morphological, Mechanical, and Rheological Properties of PEO/PBAT Blends

Kui Wang; Xuefei Jin; Xiuhong He; Weijiang Huang; Qin Tian; Qiuping Fu; Wei Yan

doi:10.3390/nano12172896

Synthesis of Aluminum Phosphate-Coated Halloysite Nanotubes: Effects on Morphological, Mechanical, and Rheological Properties of PEO/PBAT Blends

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2022 Aug 23;12(17):2896. doi: 10.3390/nano12172896.

Authors

Kui Wang¹, Xuefei Jin¹, Xiuhong He¹, Weijiang Huang¹, Qin Tian¹, Qiuping Fu¹, Wei Yan¹

Affiliation

¹ School of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Guiyang University, Guiyang 550005, China.

Abstract

Polymer blending has been widely used to fabricate polymeric films in the last decade due to its superior properties to a single component. In this study, an aluminum phosphate-coated halloysite nanotube (HNTs@AlPO₄) was fabricated using a one-pot heterogeneous precipitation method, organically modified HNTs@AlPO₄ (o-HNTs@AlPO₄) was used to improve the performance of polyethylene oxide/poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PEO/PBAT) blends, and the mechanical and rheological properties of the PEO/PBAT/o-HNTs@AlPO₄ films were systematically discussed. According to our results, there is an optimal addition for adequate AlPO₄ nanoparticle dispersion and coating on the surface of HNTs, and organic modification could improve the interfacial compatibility of HNTs@AlPO₄ and the polymeric matrix. Moreover, o-HNTs@AlPO₄ may serve as a compatibilizer between PEO and PBAT, and PEO/PBAT/o-HNTs@AlPO₄ films have better mechanical and rheological properties than the PEO/PBAT blends without the o-HNTs@AlPO₄ component.

Keywords: inorganic particles; mechanical property; polymer blends; rheology.

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (52063005), the Science and Technology Support Project of Guizhou Province (2021488), the Outstanding Young Science and Technology Talent Project of Guizhou Province (20215622), the Innovative talent project of Guizhou Province (202004), and the Innovation Group Project of Guizhou Provincial Department of Education (2020024).