Preparation and characterization of poly (amide-ester-imide)/Na+-MMT nanocomposite via ultrasonic method

Abstract

Abstract The novel poly (amide-ester-imide) (PAEI)/Na+-MMT (montmorillonite) nanocomposites were synthesized by ultrasound-assisted technique successfully. PAEI/Na+-MMT nanocomposites with various content of Na+-MMT were applied to enhance the dispersion of the clay layers with polymer matrix. Water-soluble PAEI containing poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG-6000) was prepared, and nanocomposites with various content of Na+-MMT (5, 10, 15, and 20 mass %) were fabricated by ultrasonic method to produce nano-scale composites. The effects of Na+-MMT on the nanocomposites were investigated by Fourier transform infrared, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and for thermal properties. XRD approved the structure information of the synthesized nanomaterials, and it was shown that the interlayer spacing increased with clay loading. The magnitude of dispersion of the clay in the nanocomposite matrix was investigated by TEM and SEM images. The results indicated that the lateral dimension of Na+-MMT particles in composites was approximately 100 nm, and the nanomaterials are well dispersed in the polymer matrix to produce exfoliated structure in polymer/nanocomposite. Thermogravimetric analysis confirms that PAEI/Na+-MMT nanocomposites show superior thermal stability with respect to the pure PAEIs.