Preparation and mechanical properties of exfoliated CoAl layered double hydroxide (LDH)/polyamide 6 nanocomposites by in situ polymerization

Novel exfoliated nanocomposites based on polyamide 6 (PA6)/CoAl layered double hydroxide (CoAl-LDH) have been successfully prepared via in situ polymerization. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results indicated that the inorganic nanoplatelets of CoAl-LDH were homogeneously dispersed in the PA6 matrix. Mechanical testing (by tensile tests and nanoindentation measurements) shows that, compared with neat PA6, the tensile modulus, the yield strength, and the hardness of the nanocomposites are substantially improved by about 100%, 75%, and 25%, respectively, with incorporating only 1 wt% CoAl-LDH. In addition, tensile fracture morphologies of neat PA6 and its nanocomposites are also compared and discussed.