174
Appendix: Interphase Dimension Measurement Via AFM
• As seen from Fig. A8, V Interphase was estimated in case of fully or partially
embedded HNTs in PVA/HNT bionanocomposites below:
V Interphase
f
= V HNT/Interphase − V HNT
(A27)
V Interphase
p
= V HNT/Interphase-effective − V HNT-effective
(A28)
PVA/Cloisite 30B Clay Bionanocomposite Films
Despite a general concept of platelet-like shapes for Cloisite 30B clays, morphological structures of Cloisite 30B clays within PVA matrices reveal that their shapes
can be more complex and irregular. Moreover, PVA/Cloisite 30B clay interphase
has non-uniform thickness presented in Fig. 5.7 in Chap. 5 with a similar behaviour
to PVA/NBC interphase in PVA bionanocomposites. Hence, an identical approach
to detect 3D interphase dimensions in PVA/NBC bionanocomposites was also
employed for PVA/Cloisite 30B clay bionanocomposites as follows:
• First of all, PVA/Cloisite 30B clay phases were scanned transversely in Fig. A9
in order to detect W iInterphase . The scanning process was carried out within a size
interval of 10 nm. Interphase width W iInterphase along the ith transverse plane (i =
1, 2, 3, …) can be rewritten according to Eq. (A1) as below:
W iInterphase = W iCloisite 30B + t Wi1 + t Wi2
(A29)
L jInterphase and H kInterphase in case of PVA/Cloisite 30B clay bionanocomposites
were determined by scanned PVA/Cloisite 30B clay phases via PFQNM along the
jth longitudinal plane (j = 1, 2, 3, …) and along the kth height plane (k = 1, 2, 3,
…), as presented in Fig. A10a, b, respectively. Accordingly, Eqs. (A5) and (A6) can
be rewritten in the following:
L jInterphase = L jCloisite 30B + t Lj1 + t Lj2
(A30)
H kInterphase = H kCloisite 30B + t Hk1 + t Hk2
(A31)
• The next step is to calculate (SA outer Interface ) f , (SA outer Interface ) p , (SA inner Interface ) f
and (SA inner Interface ) p in PVA/Cloisite 30B clay phases by using Eqs. (5.1)–(5.4)
in Chap. 5 with the consideration of interphase dimensions given by:
Appendix: Interphase Dimension Measurement Via AFM
• As seen from Fig. A8, V Interphase was estimated in case of fully or partially
embedded HNTs in PVA/HNT bionanocomposites below:
V Interphase
f
= V HNT/Interphase − V HNT
(A27)
V Interphase
p
= V HNT/Interphase-effective − V HNT-effective
(A28)
PVA/Cloisite 30B Clay Bionanocomposite Films
Despite a general concept of platelet-like shapes for Cloisite 30B clays, morphological structures of Cloisite 30B clays within PVA matrices reveal that their shapes
can be more complex and irregular. Moreover, PVA/Cloisite 30B clay interphase
has non-uniform thickness presented in Fig. 5.7 in Chap. 5 with a similar behaviour
to PVA/NBC interphase in PVA bionanocomposites. Hence, an identical approach
to detect 3D interphase dimensions in PVA/NBC bionanocomposites was also
employed for PVA/Cloisite 30B clay bionanocomposites as follows:
• First of all, PVA/Cloisite 30B clay phases were scanned transversely in Fig. A9
in order to detect W iInterphase . The scanning process was carried out within a size
interval of 10 nm. Interphase width W iInterphase along the ith transverse plane (i =
1, 2, 3, …) can be rewritten according to Eq. (A1) as below:
W iInterphase = W iCloisite 30B + t Wi1 + t Wi2
(A29)
L jInterphase and H kInterphase in case of PVA/Cloisite 30B clay bionanocomposites
were determined by scanned PVA/Cloisite 30B clay phases via PFQNM along the
jth longitudinal plane (j = 1, 2, 3, …) and along the kth height plane (k = 1, 2, 3,
…), as presented in Fig. A10a, b, respectively. Accordingly, Eqs. (A5) and (A6) can
be rewritten in the following:
L jInterphase = L jCloisite 30B + t Lj1 + t Lj2
(A30)
H kInterphase = H kCloisite 30B + t Hk1 + t Hk2
(A31)
• The next step is to calculate (SA outer Interface ) f , (SA outer Interface ) p , (SA inner Interface ) f
and (SA inner Interface ) p in PVA/Cloisite 30B clay phases by using Eqs. (5.1)–(5.4)
in Chap. 5 with the consideration of interphase dimensions given by: