Study of change in dispersion and orientation of clay platelets in a polymer nanocomposite during tensile test by variostage small-angle X-ray scattering

To understand the change in dispersion and orientation of clay platelets in three-dimensional space during tensile test, neat polymer and its nanocomposite samples were studied by small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SWAXS). The samples after tensile tests were examined by tilting and rotating them with respect to the incident X-ray beam and also by scanning them at different positions. The tilt angle measurements provide better understanding on the dispersion and orientation of the clay platelets in nanocomposite. On the other hand, rotation and scanning measurements reveal details information on the orientation of polymer crystal planes due to the tensile stretching and percent crystallinity. Finally, the focussed ion beam electron tomography was employed to support the dispersion and orientation models of clay platelets proposed on the basis of SWAXS analyses.