ANALYSIS OF THE PHYSICAL, MECHANICAL, AND THERMAL PROPERTIES OF A CLAY-SUPPORTED-METAL OXIDE NANOCOMPOSITE

Abstract

Nanotechnology encompasses the development of material structures at very small scales to achieve specific properties, through which they can strengthen the effectiveness of materials, while, being lightweight, more durable, reactive, and entangled. It involves manipulation of matter at the atomic scale. This study develops and analyzes the physical, mechanical and thermal properties of a clay-supported-metal oxide nanocomposite. The metal oxides used were CuO and ZnO metal oxides with bentonite as the supported clay. CuO and ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by green synthesis using bitter leaf extract as the capping and reducing agent. The bentonite clay was purified, functionalized, and calcined. The prepared materials were mixed in certain proportions and molded to obtain a bentonite/CuO/ZnO Nanocomposite. The bulk density of the composite was determined using an experimental method, followed by mechanical tests such as impact tests using the Izod method, tensile strength, percent elongation at break, tensile strength at break, and yield strength on the composite using the ASTM E384 standard method. The bentonite/CuO/ZnO/ nanocomposite was also characterized using SEM/EDS, and XRD. SEM/ EDS showed that the bentonite/CuO/ZnO hybrid system obtained has a plate structure and was characterized by a large grain size distribution.