Influence of backbone chain length and functional groups of organic modifiers on crystallinity and nanomechanical properties of intercalated clay-polycaprolactam nanocomposites

In this paper, we report the influence of chain length of organic modifier on the crystallinity and nanomechanical properties of polymer clay nanocomposites (PCNs) using modifiers of three different chain lengths while maintaining the same functional groups. We also report the influence of change in functional group on the properties, while maintaining the same backbone and length. The clay and polymer used are the same in all cases. The PCNs have been synthesised with these modifiers, and their crystallinity and nanomechanical properties have been evaluated to assess the influence of backbone chain-length and functional groups. Our study reveals that backbone chain length of organic modifier has significant effect on the structure, crystallinity and nanomechanical properties of PCNs. Further it is observed that end functional group of organic modifier also has significant effect on the crystallinity and nanomechanical properties of PCN. However, the change in backbone chain-length of organic modifier plays a more critical role on the crystallinity and nanomechanical properties of PCNs.