Development of a simple model to characterize the complex constrained polymer chains in polymer nanocomposites at the interphase of amorphous/semicrystalline ethylene vinyl acetate and nanosheets

A simple model was developed to characterize the constrained polymer chains at the interphase of amorphous/semicrystalline polymer nanocomposites based on ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer and some nanosheets such as expanded graphite, graphene and organo-modified montmorillonite. It was found that this method is a useful tool to describe the reinforcement efficiency of nanoparticles. Models were developed using dynamical mechanical thermal analysis data to identify the interphase properties. The volume fraction of constrained polymer chains shows power law relationship with filler content. Since the total volume fraction consists of the confined polymer chains at the surface of nanoparticles and in crystal lamellas, the contribution of nanosheet interphase was evaluated separately. Moreover, the thickness of constructed interphase between polymer chains and nanosheets were predicted using the filler characteristics in the polymer nanocomposites. This implies that the dispersion state of nanofiller in polymeric nanocomposites can be obtained by using this simple model.