Microphase separation and properties of TPU/Nd2O3 nanocomposites

The thermoplastic polyurethane/Nd2O3 (TPU/Nd2O3) nanocomposites with different content of Nd2O3 nanoparticles are synthesized via an in situ bulk polymerization technique. The results of x-ray Diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy show that Nd2O3 nanoparticles with size of 40 nm are uniformly dispersed in TPU matrix. Furthermore, the degrees of microphase separation of the nanocomposites are evaluated by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis, and the effect of different Nd2O3 nanoparticle contents on the properties of TPU/Nd2O3 nanocomposites is investigated. When the content of Nd2O3 nanoparticles is 0.5 wt%, the nanocomposites has the highest degree of microphase separation, and the corresponding melting temperature, decomposition temperature, tensile strength, and elongation at break of TPU/Nd2O3 nanocomposites reach their maximum values of 196.5 °C, 352.7 °C, 53.9 MPa, and 703%, which are higher by 17.9%, 13.5%, 89.1% and 32.4% than pure TPU, respectively. Meanwhile, the TPU/Nd2O3 nanocomposites also illustrate better chemical resistance characteristics compared with pure TPU. Finally, the interaction mechanism between Nd2O3 and TPU is investigated by x-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, which confirms that the coordination bonds between Nd2O3 and carbamate groups of TPU are existed in the nanocomposites.