Preparation of Montmorillonite Modified with Long Hydrocarbon Tail-Bearing CTA+ Ions-Polystyrene Nanocomposites (MMPS) and Investigation of Their Thermal and Mechanical Properties

Year 2021, Volume: Volume 1 Issue: Issue 2, 30 - 35, 30.12.2021

Ahmet Gurses Kübra Gunes

Abstract

TPolymer nanocomposites have significantly taken lots of attention over the last decade. The reason for this attention is thanks to the substantial improvements in thermal and mechanical properties of these composites which are obtained even with a small addition of clay, compared to conventional composites. This study aims to prepare nanocomposites of organo-clay and polystyrene bymelt intercalation method and to investigate their mechanical and thermal properties. Organo-clay was synthesized by solution intercalation method using aqueous dispersions of a long-chain hydrocarbon dispersed in aqueous medium by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a surfactant, with montmorillonite clay. The structural, thermal and mechanical characteristics of the nanocomposites were also investigated as a function of the content of the organo-clay. The organo-clay and the PCNs synthesized were characterized via XRD, HRTEM, FTIR and DSC techniques. The XRD patterns and HRTEM images show that in both cases, the organo-clay platelets have predominantly dispersed as tactoids (stacks of parallel clay platelets at about 100 nm separation) and also partially exfoliated into the polymer matrix. It was also found that the mechanical and thermal properties of the nanocomposites were significantly improved compared with pure polymer. The presence of the infrared bands of CTAB-montmorillonite in the PS/montmorillonite nanocomposite signifies that the clay tactoids were turned into fine particles and homogeneously dispersed in the PS matrix.DSC results also show that glass transition temperature and the thermal stability of the synthesized composites are higherthan those of the pure polymer and other composites.

Keywords

Organo-clay, Nanocomposites, Long-tailed, CTA+ions, Polystyrene

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