Poly(Vinyl Chloride) Nanocomposites Prepared in the Suspension Polymerization Process. Part I. PVC Filled with Hybrid Nanofiller

PVC syntheses were done by suspension polymerization in the presence of hybrid silicone/acrylic core-shell type nanofiller. The moldings made from PVC nanocomposites are fully homogeneous and of good transparency. SEM images show very good, uniform dispersion of nanofiller in PVC matrix. The blends made from nanocomposites show higher tensile strength (~10%) and tensile modulus (20% higher for nanofiller amount equal to 0.2 wt.%/VCM) than PVC homopolymer. The impact strength of all samples made from PVC nanocomposites are higher than of PVC. Blends of nanocomposites containing 0.5 or 1.0 wt.%/VCM of nanofiller show the best impact strength: 28 and 32% better than PVC, respectively. Nanocomposites containing 0.5 wt.%/VCM of core-shell nanofiller show the highest stiffness. The nanofiller used practically does not influence thermal properties of the polymer. The use of PVC nanocomposites in typical PVC applications gives possibility to obtain the novel PVC products with the properties better than the present ones as well as the possibility to reduce processing costs via reduction of processing aids amounts, especially impact modifiers, what additionally will lead to tensile properties improvement.