Structural characterization of PTFE/Al2O3 polymer matrix nanocomposite powder prepared by high energy ball milling method

In this research work، PTFE/nano-Al2O3 polymer matrix composite powder was prepared by using a high energy ball milling technique under ambient temperature. The morphology، crystalline and molecular structure of the obtained nanocomposite particles were characterized by means of scanning electron microscope (SEM)، energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS)، X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR) analysis. The results indicated that after ball milling for 20 h، Al2O3 nanoparticles were well deagglomerated and dispersed homogeneously into PTFE particles. It was also shown that milling has no significant effect in deterioration of PTFE crystallites. However، it led to small decrease in the crystallite domains of PTFE. FTIR results showed that there was no obvious chemical modification observed on the PTFE molecular structure after milling.