Studies on the effect of silicon carbide nanoparticles on the thermal, mechanical, and biodegradation properties of poly(caprolactone)

In this work, silicon carbide (SiC) nanoparticles were used to reinforce polycaprolactone (PCL). The nanocomposites were prepared by melt-mixing followed by mould extrusion. The effect of increased SiC loading on the thermal, mechanical, and dynamic mechanical properties was investigated using differential scanning calorimetry, tensile testing, and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), respectively. The morphology and chemical interactions were carried out by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), respectively. The SiC nanoparticles were fairly well dispersed in the PCL matrix. FTIR indicated that there was no chemical interaction between PCL and SiC. The presence of SiC nanoparticles influenced the crystallization behavior of PCL, whereas there was no significant influence on thermal degradation behavior of PCL. Generally, the mechanical properties of the nanocomposite increased with an increase in nanoparticle content. The DMA results showed that the presence of SiC improved the storage modulus of PCL especially at higher SiC loading. Thermogravimetric analysis showed a very small influence of SiC on the thermal stability of PCL. Moreover, the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the nanocomposites shifted to lower temperatures compared to that of neat PCL. The crystal structure was not significantly influenced by the presence of SiC. The biodegradation process of PCL in soil environment delayed in the presence of SiC. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 42145.