LAUSR

Biodegradable polymers, such as polybutylene succinate (PBS), have attracted a lot of attention in the scientific community recently due to a rapid growth of intensive interest in the global environment for alternatives to petroleum-based polymeric materials. Chalcone (CH), hexadecylamine (HDA), and tetradecylamine (TDA) were used as one of organic compounds to modify natural clay (sodium montmorillonite). The clay modification was carried out by stirring the clay particles in an aqueous solution of CH-MMT, HDA-MMT and TDA-MMT increases from 1.27 to 1.51, 1.57 and 1.78 nm, respectively. The modified clay was then used in the preparation of the PBS/epoxidized palm oil (EPO) blend nanocomposites. They were prepared by incorporating 0.5–5% of CH-MMT, HDA-MMT and TDA-MMT. The interaction of the modifier in the clay layer was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). The nanocomposites were synthesized by solution casting of the modified clay and a PBS/EPO blend at the weight ratio of 80/20, which has the highest increase in the tensile strength of the blend. The XRD, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy results confirmed the production of nanocomposites. PBS/EPO modified clay nanocomposites show higher thermal stability and significant improvement of comparison with those of the PBS/EPO blend.