Abstract
Preparation of a novel organically modified clay from spent oil base drilling mud (SOBM) that could serve as core-shell clay filler for polymers is herein reported. Due to the hydrophilic nature of clay, its compatibility with polymer matrix was made possible through modification of the surface of the core clay sample with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (3-APTES) compound prior to its use. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was used to characterize clay surface modification. Electron dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDX) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to expose filler chemical composition and morphology, while electrophoresis measurement was used to examine level of filler dispersion. Results show an agglomerated core clay powder after high temperature treatment, while EDX analysis shows that the organically modified clay is composed of chemical inhomogeneities, wherein elemental compositions in weight percent vary from one point to the other in a probe of two points. Micrographs of the 3-APTES coupled SOBM core-shell clay filler clearly show cloudy appearance, while FT-IR indicates 25% and 5% increases in fundamental vibrations band at 1014 cm−1 and 1435 cm−1, respectively. Furthermore, 3-APTES coupled core-shell clay was used to prepare epoxy composites and tested for mechanical properties.
Highlights
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter
0.8 wt% or 1 g of 3-APTES coupled spent oil base drilling mud (SOBM) core-shell clay filler had shown the lowest stiffness with E-modulus of 896.1 MPa
Increased 3-APTES coupled SOBM core-shell clay filler content from 4 wt% to 8 wt% or 10 g gave a composite with E-modulus 3.093 GPa
Summary
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Clay in its natural form is hydrophilic and organophobic, which makes dispersion and compatibility of mineral clay fillers in organic matrices difficult. In order to mitigate this setback in the use of clays in polymer matrices, functionalization of the clay platelets with organic compounds is one sure way. Natural smectite clays have been modified into porous clay structure, otherwise, “core” clay by various synthesis routes [10, 11] before grafting with organosilanes [12] and inclusion in a host polymer matrix. In all the accounted cases, the ultimate reason for clay modification is to improve on particle dispersion and compatibility with host polymer by coating the clay with a soft organic compound, otherwise, an organic “shell” [10].
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