Abstract
This research developed a novel poly(trifluoropropylmethylsiloxane) (PTMS)/montmorillonite nanoparticles, for technologic applications. PTMS /MMT nanoparticles were prepared by the miniemulsion polymerization method. Montmorillonite clay was encapsulated within a fluorinated cyclosiloxane (1,3,5-tris(trifluoropropylmethyl)cyclotrisiloxane) to give stable water based nanocomposite latex, using miniemulsion polymerization technique. The resulting composite latex was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and RX diffraction. The particles stability was investigated by sedimentation and surface tension measurements. An efficient cationic/nonionic surfactant mixture was used in order to achieve the best compatibility with the monomer. TEM and RX data revealed the partial embedding of montmorillonite in the spherical polymer based nanoparticles. According to DLS measurements, the encapsulated clay particles conserve their size throughout the polymerization process. The melt processing of poly(trifluoropropylmethylsiloxane) matrix to encapsulate the montmorillonite clay was also carried out for comparison purposes.
Highlights
Polymer-clay nanocomposites have received growing attention during the last 20 years since they are knownto display much better physical properties than pure polymers or their classical microcomposites [1]
The last technique is the in situ hydrothermal crystallisation of the clay in an aqueous gel medium where the polymer often acts as a template for layer formation [8]
It should be noted that the average has about the same value at that obtained above. This is in good agreement with the results obtained by Qunhui et al [16] for polystyrene laponite composites synthesized via miniemulsion polymerization using a nonionic/cationic mixture
Summary
Polymer-clay nanocomposites have received growing attention during the last 20 years since they are knownto display much better physical properties than pure polymers or their classical microcomposites [1]. The monomer droplets are protected against the monomer diffusion (Ostwald ripening) by an efficient surfactant or a mixture of two surfactants and by addition of a hydrophobic compound [9,10] allowing the polymerization to occur mainly inside these nanoreactors. Due to their hydrophobic nature platelet clay can be dispersed within the organic phase, i.e. inside the monomer droplets and stabilize the dispersion provided that chemical compatibility and partial clay exfoliation are achieved. Our ultimate goal is to assess silicate dispersion on a nanolength scale
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