Solid intercalation to produce polymer/clay nanocomposites

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Carreyette, S.J., 2003. Solid intercalation to produce polymer/clay nanocomposites. PhD, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

A review of recent literature and current knowledge relating to the development in polymer/clay nanocomposites has been presented.

A novel method, solid intercalation, to produce polymer/clay nanocomposites is described based on two polymers, polyethylene oxide and polystyrene with two clays, hydrophilic clay G105 and organoclay 1.28. The clays used in the solid intercalation are selected based on the nanostructure, microstructure and thermal stability results. The polymers are selected based on their potential applications. The structures of the resultant materials are analysed and the possible mechanisms of the solid intercalation in different polymer/clay systems are presented.

The experiment results show that the organoclay is more promising in obtaining a good dispersion and expansion of the clay layers in polymer matrices, especially at high clay loading. Hydrophilic clay can be well dispersed and expanded in the polyethylene oxide/clay system for clay contents below 10 wt%.

A comparison between solid intercalation and solution synthesis is made for the polyethylene oxide/clay system. The structure diagrams for the corresponding method are illustrated. The nanocomposites produced by solid intercalation are composed of isolated polymer and intercalated/exfoliated polymer/clay structures, while those produced by solution synthesis are mainly composed of intercalated structures.

Studies of the processing conditions of solid intercalation of the PEO/G105 clay system were carried out. The results show that the moisture level is critical in producing the composites by solid intercalation. There are two possible mechanisms for producing the composites - the melt and flow of the polymer into the clay galleries or the formation of the polymer solution and flow into the clay galleries. The results also show that high pressure and temperature improve the melt and flow of the polymer in solid intercalation which encourages more intercalation to take place.

The mechanical properties and thermal stability of the composites were investigated using nanoindentation test and thermo-gravimetric analysis to explore the potential of solid intercalation in commercial applications. Comparing the nanoindentation results of the polymer/clay nanocomposites produced by solid intercalation with those produced by solution synthesis, the composites produced by solid intercalation have higher hardness and reduced modulus which offer the potential for the direct application of solid intercalated products. The results from TGA show the thermal properties of the polymer/clay nanocomposite produced by solid intercalation are significantly improved which offers the opportunity to use the existing available organoclays to produce high quality nanocomposites by using a combined approach involving both solid intercalation and melt processing.

Item Type:

Thesis

Creators:

Carreyette, S.J.

Date:

2003

ISBN:

9781369315707

Identifiers: