Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 J Inorg Organomet Polym DOI 10.1007/s10904-017-0555-3 Investigation of Fusion behavior in the PVC/XNBR/Nanoclay Composites by RSM Mehdi Moghri 1  · Ali Reza Zanjanijam 2   Received: 17 January 2017 / Accepted: 19 April 2017 © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2017 1 Introduction Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) is a well-known thermoplastic which is widely used in various applications such as pipes, cables, packaging flms, automotive parts, and etc. [1]. PVC possesses good chemical stability, fame retardancy, fexibility, and low fammability. However, it sufers from low heat resistance as well as brittleness which limit appli- cations of this polymer. Therefore, diferent additives are employed to improve properties of the PVC [2–4]. Rigid PVC compounds usually encompass lubricants, fllers, impact modifers, thermal stabilizers and etc. Incorporation of the elastomers leads to increase in PVC toughness, while it decreases strength of the compound. On the other hand, inorganic fllers can improve signifcantly mechanical prop- erties of the PVC [1]. Polymer nanocomposites are multi-functional materials which include fllers with at least one dimension in nanom- eter scale. These new category of materials have attracted a lot of interest due to their exceptional properties. There are many reports on polymer-based nanocomposites espe- cially with efcient nanofllers such as carbon nanotubes, nanoclay, and graphene [5–9] in the literature. In recent years, PVC nanocomposites containing sodium montmo- rillonite (Na-MMT) and/or organoclay [10–16], silica [1, 17], nano-CaCO 3 [18–20], carbon nanotubes [21–23], and layered double hydroxides [24] have been extensively stud- ied. Performance of the fllers in the PVC matrix relies on diferent parameters including concentration, size, shape, surface chemistry, and dispersion quality of the fllers [25–27]. Peprnicek et al. [28] showed that the type of nano- fller afects properties of the PVC composites by shifting the thermal degradation towards higher temperatures for nanocomposites based on organoclays, compared to pris- tine clay. A report by Awad et al. [12] reveals that PVC Abstract In this work, fusion behavior of PVC in the PVC/XNBR blends containing organoclay was investigated using response surface methodology (RSM). In fact, the individual and interactive efects of the three parameters including nanoclay content, rubber content, and rotor speed on the fusion factor and fusion time of the samples were evaluated. The results showed that increase in the rubber content and rotor speed promoted the fusion phenomenon, whereas a certain amount of the nanoclay is required due to selective localization of the Cloisite 30B in the XNBR phase. The interactive and contour plots revealed optimized levels of the parameters for obtaining maximum FF as well as minimum FT. Accordingly, by using high levels of the nanoclay and rubber contents, desirable fusion could be achieved. Also, for high loadings of Cloisite 30B, medium level of rotor speed is sufcient to obtain an appropriate response. It is suggested that afnity of the layered silicates to the components of PVC blends is the determining factor in individual and interactive efects of the nanoclay content on fusion. Since fusion characteristics play a key role in fnal properties of the PVC formulations, fndings of this research are important from academic and industrial points of view. Keywords PVC · XNBR · Nanoclay · Fusion · RSM * Mehdi Moghri moghri@iaukashan.ac.ir 1 Polymer Engineering Department, Engineering Faculty, Kashan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kashan, Iran 2 Young Researchers and Elite Club, West Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran