TY - JOUR A1 - Böhning, Martin A1 - Goering, Harald A1 - Fritz, Andreas A1 - Brzezinka, Klaus-Werner A1 - Turky, Gamal A1 - Schönhals, Andreas A1 - Schartel, Bernhard T1 - Dielectric Study of Molecular Mobility in Poly(propylene-graft-maleic anhydride)/Clay Nanocomposites N2 - Polymer/clay nanocomposite materials based on poly(propylene-graft-maleic anhydride) (PPgMAH) and two different organophilic modified clays were investigated by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS). In contrast to ungrafted polypropylene (PP), PPgMAH shows a dielectrically active relaxation process which can be assigned to localized fluctuations of the polar maleic anhydride groups. Its relaxation rate exhibits an unusual temperature dependence, which could be attributed to a redistribution of water molecules in the polymeric matrix. This is confirmed by a combination of Raman spectroscopy and thermogravimetric experiments (TGA) with real-time dielectric measurements under controlled atmospheres. In the nanocomposites this relaxation process is shifted to higher frequencies up to 3 orders of magnitude compared to the unfilled polymer. This indicates a significantly enhanced molecular mobility in the interfacial regions. In the nanocomposite materials a separate high-temperature process due to Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars (MWS) polarization was observed. The time constant of this MWS process can be correlated with characteristic length scales in nanocomposites and therefore provides additional information on dispersion and delamination/exfoliation of clay platelets in these materials. These properties also influence the diffusivity of the water molecules as revealed by real-time dielectric investigations. KW - Polymer clay nanocomposites KW - Molecular mobility KW - Dielectric relaxation spectroscopy PY - 2005 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/ma048315c SN - 0024-9297 SN - 1520-5835 VL - 38 IS - 7 SP - 2764 EP - 2774 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-7281 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -