The influence of crosslinking temperature on the spectroscopic, thermal, and mechanical properties of poly(vinyl alcohol)/zeolite composites

Abstract

The aim of this study was to understand the effect of crosslinking temperature on the spectroscopic, thermal,and mechanical properties of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/zeolite composites. The PVA nanocomposite films were preparedusing the solvent casting method with tartaric acid as the crosslinker. The changes in the structures of pure PVA filmand powder clinoptilolite (CL) and nanocomposite films were analyzed by means of ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. Theeffect of both crosslinking temperature and CL on the composite films prepared by the addition of constant CL to thepolymer matrix at different crosslinking temperatures (series II) and pure PVA films prepared with different crosslinkingtemperatures (series III films) shows that the tensile strengths increase with increasing crosslinking temperature, while theelongation at break of films decreases due to the crosslinking temperature and CL. The differential scanning calorimetryresults show that the crosslinking temperature leads to an increase in the glass transition (Tg) of nanocomposites.According to the results of this study, both zeolite and crosslinking temperature affect the thermal and mechanicalproperties of the material. These results may be used for membrane technology.