Poly(vinyl alcohol) nanocomposites containing hybrid materials mimicking the Maya Blue pigment

Abstract

To mimic the Maya Blue pigment, two azo dyes (methylorange - AM and congo red - VC) were inserted into the porous structure of paligorskite. The hybrid materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy and surface analysis (surface area by BET, pore size and volume by and BJH). After dispersing the hybrid materials into poly(vinyl alcohol), colored and transparent films were obtained by wet casting. After conditioned into desiccators at controlled humidity of 43 ± 2% for one week, the films were evaluated in relation to their mechanical properties. In general, the material PVA-PGS/AM increases Young’s modulus and ultimate tensile strength reducing the elongation while raw paligorskite and PVA-PGS/VC presented an opposite behavior.

Keywords:
azo dyes; hybrid materials; mechanical properties; palygorskite; poly(vinyl alcohol)