Document Type : Original research
Authors
Department of Materials Engineering – Lorena School of Engineering – University of São Paulo - DEMAR-EEL/USP, CEP: 12612-550, Lorena, SP, Brazil
Abstract
High-density polyethylene (HDPE) has been widely used in automotive industry for manufacture of fuel tanks due to their properties such as chemical stability, easy processability and low cost. However, the low barrier of the HDPE to evaporative emission of organic fuel is a deficiency. Thus, the fluoridation treatment or combination of the HDPE with layers of polar polymers of high barriers for hydrocarbon permeation have currently been the procedures usually employed. In present study, the aim was to evaluate the changes in the barrier property to fuel permeation of the HDPE through incorporation of organically modified montmorillonite clay Cloisite 30B, generating nanocomposites HDPE/Clay. It was verified that the barrier to the fuel permeation is significantly increased in the HDPE/Clay nanocomposites containing clay at 2 and 3 wt%, while thermal stability and mechanical properties of the material remain similar to the non-filled polymer. The properties performance of the HDPE/Clay nanocomposites allow its use to the manufacture of the fuel tanks, complying with current regulations for evaporative fuel emissions and proving advantages such as lower production cost and recyclability of the material when compared to the traditional methods using fluoridation treatment or multilayer with polar polymers.
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