Mechanical and gas barrier properties of polyamides 6/ organically modified montmorillonite/ maleic anhydride grafted polyolefin elastomer composites produced by rotational molding

Abstract High‐strength and high‐gas‐barrier plastic packaging liners have emerged as competitive products with promising potential application in the field of Type IV hydrogen storage cylinders. Ternary composites, which contain PA6, organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT), and maleic anhydride grafted polyolefin elastomer (POE‐g‐MAH), have been proposed as possible material for this application. To achieve the goal of developing this material, the influence of material formulation on various properties such as mechanical, microstructure, gas barrier, thermal stability, and flow properties of the composites was investigated. The results show that the composites with 3 wt% OMMT had the best gas barrier and mechanical properties. Additionally, the effect of rotational molding process parameters on the wall thickness of the plastic liner was studied. Process parameter regulation methods were proposed to improve wall thickness consistency of the products. The investigation shows that the composites containing 3 wt% OMMT had the best wall thickness consistency of the products. Highlights The effect of filler content on the properties of PA6 composites was investigated. The composites with 3 wt% OMMT had the best wall thickness consistency. The gas barrier property of the composite is improved by 43.9% over virgin PA6. The impact strength of the composite is improved by 133.8% over virgin PA6. Insights for the development of processing methods for plastic packaging inserts.