Physico‐chemical and spectroscopic properties of gamma irradiated ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber/vermiculite clay/maleic anhydride nanocomposites

The physico-chemical and spectroscopic properties of gamma irradiated ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber (EPDM)/vermiculite clay (VMT)/maleic anhydride (MA) nanocomposites were investigated. The vermiculite clay was firstly delaminated by acid treatment using hydrochloric acid. The untreated (VMT) or delaminated (DVMT) clays were used at the contents from 2.5 to 10 parts per hundred of rubber (phr). The nanocomposites were prepared by direct melt compounding in an internal mixer. The untreated and acid-treated vermiculite clay and EPDM/VMT/MA nanocomposites were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results indicated that the presence of DVMT improved the physico-chemical properties of the nanocomposites formed. Maximum improvement was achieved when the content of DVMT clay was 5 phr and the irradiation dose of 50 kGy was applied. POLYM. COMPOS., 2016. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers