Estudo e desenvolvimento de materiais híbridos de poli (metacrilato de metila) (PMMA) com argila organofílica e alumina visando aplicação tecnológica.

Abstract

The poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) has replaced glass in many applications because it is transparent, easy to be polished and has higher impact resistance. Other advantages are related to its lower density, which facilitates handling and reduces transportation costs, and the fact of not generating shards when broken, ensuring greater safety. It is also one of the main competitors of polycarbonate (PC) as it is a cheap plastic with excellent optical properties. However, PMMA has low abrasion resistance, hardness and low risk. Some methods have been studied in order to modify this behavior, but the great difficulty is to ensure the improvement of these properties without compromising transparency. It is in this context that the present work, to obtain and study of nanocomposites with PMMA matrix becomes relevant as the effect of particles with nanometer dimensions in the transparency of PMMA can be minimal and provide gains in other properties. With this objective, the following systems have been developed: PMMA / organoclay, PMMA / alumina and PMMA/ organoclay/ impact modifiers. The systems showed improvements in abrasion resistance and hardness to the risk with reasonable balanced mechanical properties and transparency. Showed exfoliated morphologies and structures indicating immiscibility. In addition, some of the systems were less flammable and more tenacious with the addition of the clay. This study indicates that it is possible to obtain a poly (methyl methacrylate) more resistant to abrasion, risk and better hardness using local products.