Incorporation Of Clay Research Articles

Electrical Breakdown Properties of Clay-Based LDPE Blends and Nanocomposites

Microstructure and electrical breakdown properties of blends and nanocomposites based on low-density polyethylene (LDPE) have been discussed. A series of LDPE nanocomposites containing different amount of organomodified montmorillonite (clay) with and without compatibilizer have been prepared by means of melt compounding. Two sets of blends of LDPE with two grades of Styrene-Ethylene-Butylene-Styrene block copolymers have been prepared to form cocontinuous structure and host the nanoreinforcement. A high degree of dispersion of oriented clay was observed through X-ray diffraction, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy. This was confirmed by the solid-like behavior of storage modulus in low frequencies in rheological measurement results. An alteration in the morphology of blends was witnessed upon addition of clay where the transportation phenomenon to the copolymer phase resulted in a downsizing on the domain size of the constituents of the immiscible blends. The AC breakdown strength of nanocomposites significantly increased when clay was incorporated. The partially exfoliated and intercalated clay platelets are believed to distribute the electric stress and prolong the breakdown time by creating a tortuous path for charge carriers. However, the incorporation of clay has been shown to diminish the DC breakdown strength of nanocomposites, mostly due to the thermal instability brought by clay.

Modified aggregation pattern of cresyl violet acetate adsorbed on nano clay mineral layers in Langmuir Blodgett film

Present work investigated the modified aggregation behavior of a cationic oxazine dye, Cresyl violet acetate (CVA) in presence of Laponite nano clay mineral layers in aqueous clay mineral dispersion as well as in ultra thin organo-clay hybrid Langmuir Blodgett (LB) films. The presence of non-fluorescent H-dimeric sites in aqueous solution of CVA even at very low concentration diminishes its fluorescence intensity and CVA ceases to emit any fluorescence in solid state and in the ultrathin films due to the abundance of H-dimeric sites. Incorporation of clay in aqueous solution drastically modified the absorption spectrum of CVA. Organo-clay hybrid film of CVA, fabricated at higher clay concentration, showed intense J-aggregated band due to the formation of J-aggregated species. UV–vis absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy as well as in-situ Brewster angle microscopic (BAM) studies were employed in this investigation.

Incorporation of bentonite clay in cassava starch films for the reduction of water vapor permeability

Complete factorial planning 23 was applied to identify the influence of the cassava starch(A), glycerol(B) and modified clay(C) content on the water vapor permeability(WVP) of the cassava starch films with the addition of bentonite clay as a filler, its surface was modified by ion exchange from cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD), fourier transform by infrared radiation(FTIR), atomic force microscopy(AFM) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM). The factorial analysis suggested a mathematical model thats predicting the optimal condition of the minimization of WVP. The influence of each individual factor and interaction in the WVP was investigated by Pareto graph, response surface and the optimization was established by the desirability function. The sequence of the degree of statistical significance of the investigated effects on the WVP observed in the Pareto graph was C>B>A>BC>AC. Interactions AB, BC and AC showed that the modified clay was the factor of greater significance.

Ceramic Membrane Made with Inorganic Residue

Industrial wastes reuse becomes attractive to raw materials economy and to avoid environmental problems. The aim of this study is to develop and characterize tubular ceramic membranes using in their composition inorganic residues generated in the industries, such as, granite, alumina residue from calcination process and kaolin. Initially, it was performed the physical chemical and mineralogical characterization of the residues. Different formulations of ceramic masses have been studied with incorporation of residue, clay and additives for producing tubular membranes through the extrusion process. The membranes were characterized by SEM and flow measurements with distilled water. The membranes were applied to effluent treatment from textile and oil industry. The granite residue showed a high content of SiO2and Al2O3in its chemical composition and significant amount of iron and calcium oxides resulting from the granite processing. The granite residue presented average particle size of 13.98 µm. The residue from alumina process contain gibbsite and α-alumina, and average particles size of 15.68 µm. The residue from kaolin processing presented high content of quartz and alumina and average particles size of 29.0 µm. The tubular membrane produced with granite residue presented porosity from 17 to 30%, pores size in the range of 0.06 to 0.14µm and water flow from 10 (at 2 Bar) to 24 L/h.m2(at 4 Bar). These membranes retained 100% of indigo particles and was effective in the separation of indigo. The membrane prepared with alumina residue presented porosity close to 58% , pore size of 0.96 µm and water flow from 68 to 80 L/h.m2(at 2 Bar). These membranes were applied with successes in the separation of water from emulsion (100 ppm oil/water) with rejection above 96%. The membrane prepared with kaolin residue presented pore size from 0.16 to 0.22 µm, porosity from 41 to 44% and water flow from 53 to 70 L/h.m2. The ceramic membranes with industrial residues were successfully produced and applied in the treatment of industrial effluents.

Improved Catalytic Performance of Lipase Supported on Clay/Chitosan Composite Beads

Clay/chitosan composite beads were prepared and used as the carrier to support lipase by adsorption, to improve the activity and stability of lipase in the hydrolysis of olive oil. Under conditions of pH 6.0, 25 °C and adsorption for 10 h, immobilized lipases on chitosan bead (CB–lipase) and three clay/chitosan composite beads, at different clay to chitosan proportions of 1:8 (CCB-8-lipase), 1:5 (CCB-5-lipase) and 1:3 (CCB-3-lipase), were prepared. By comparing the activity of these immobilized lipases, CCB-5-lipase showed the highest activity, followed by CCB-8-lipase > CCB-3-lipase > CB-lipase; this improvement was attributed to the synergetic effect of enrichment of olive oil by clay at the reaction surface and better biocompatibility of chitosan with lipase molecules. The optimum pH and temperature in the reaction respectively changed from 7.0 and 30 °C for free lipase to 7.5 and 35 °C for immobilized forms. Furthermore, the thermal stability and repeated usability of these immobilized lipases were sequenced as CCB-3-lipase > CCB-5-lipase > CCB-8-lipase > CB–lipase, due to greater rigidity of immobilized lipase with the addition of clay, which was further confirmed by SEM. The study shows that the incorporation of clay with chitosan creates a good synergetic effect to improve the catalytic performance of immobilized lipase on clay/chitosan composite.

The influence of natural clay and organoclay vermiculite on the formation process of bionanocomposites with poly (3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate)

During the last decades, a lot of research work focused on several biodegradable and biosourced polyesters for the purpose of reducing the non-degradable polymer wastes. These polyesters are particularly considered to be promising polymers for biomedical applications and short life-time products like packaging. As these packagings are rapidly discarded, especially the food ones, their accumulation becomes a serious environmental problem. In order to replace these materials with new ones that do not harm the environment, several studies are being carried out about these materials. However, it presents some limitations as its thermal instability in the molten state and high cost of production, being the incorporation of clay to the polymer matrix, forming bionanocomposites, a viable alternative since it improves the mechanical and thermal properties of the material when compared to the pure polymer, and may or may not reduce the total cost of production. Among commercially-available polyesters, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are produced by various bacteria and known to be fully biodegradable. The aim of this study was to develop and to characterize bionanocomposites produced from the polymer matrix of poly (3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) - PHBV and natural vermiculite and organoclay. The melt intercalation technique was used for obtaining systems in the form of films. The FTIR results unveiled changes in the bionanocomposites structure with the addition of the clay, verifying the incorporation and overlap of bands of both the natural clay and the quaternary ammonium salt. Through the XRD technique, it was observed a greater disorganization in the systems compared to the pure polymer, suggesting a structure of a microcomposite for the systems with natural clay and tending to a greater exfoliation for the systems with organoclay vermiculite. From the micrographs by MO and MEV, the films presented a small number of clusters for the natural systems and a more uniform structure for the organophilic systems, thus corroborating with the XRD. In this way, it was evidenced that the systems with organoclay were the ones that presented better against the characteristics desired for its possible industrial application. Thus, elaborated bionanocomposites may be an alternative to the substitution of synthetic polymers in the industry, for example, in food packaging. Keywords: bionanocomposites, polymeric composites, polymers, FTIR and X-ray technique.

Effect of clay incorporation in the dimensional stability of FKM nanocomposite

ABSTRACT In this work was studied the effect of nanoparticle incorporation in the dimensional stability of elastomer matrix. To avoid excessive swelling and consequently dimensional instability in the films, crosslinking has been shown to be an efficient and simple method for achieve the reducing membrane swelling and improving mechanical stability. The elastomer used was a fluorinated type, with 70% of fluor in its composition and commercial clay (Cloisite®) was the nanofiller used. The nancomposites with 0.5, 1 or 2% (wt%) of nanoclay were prepared in a open two roll mill. The fluoroelastomer was a type of Viton® (DuPont) which has low fuel permeation and suitable for use as sealant mainly for o-ring production. The incorporation of clay in the polymer matrix aimed to avoid excessive swelling and to maintain the material dimensional stability. The nanocomposites were characterized by stress-strain test to evaluated elongation and tension at break, by rheometry to analyzed maximum and minimum torques, and degree of swelling to follow dimensional size modification of nanocomposites films. There were a decreasing of the elongation at break and of degree of swelling values what can be correlated to an increase of crosslinking, and consequently formation of a networking in the nanocomposites matrix in the films evaluated

砂丘地土壌の客土効果(第8報) : 客土地の硫安施肥位置に就て

砂丘地土壌の客土効果(第8報) : 客土地の硫安施肥位置に就て

Influence of site and soil properties on the DRIFT spectra of northern cold-region soils

We investigated the influence of site characteristics and soil properties on the chemical composition of organic matter in soils collected from a latitudinal transect across northern cold-region through analysis of diffuse reflectance Fourier transform mid infrared (DRIFT) spectra of bulk soils. The study included 119 soil samples collected from 28 sites including tundra, boreal forest, grassland, and coastal rainforest ecosystems. Organic, mineral, and cryoturbated soil horizons, both seasonally and perennially frozen, representing a variety of depths and edaphic conditions were examined. The amount and chemical composition of organic matter, as well as site and soil properties, exerted a strong influence on the DRIFT spectra. The spectra were highly sensitive to the extent of organic matter decomposition, enabling the ordination of organic (Oi, Oe and Oa) horizons. Differences in absorbance intensity for several spectral bands indicated that Oi horizons contained greater abundance of relatively fresh residues, phenolic-OH compounds, aliphatic compounds, and carbohydrates. In contrast, Oa horizons had a greater presence of amide groups, aromatics, CC bonds, carboxylates and carboxylic acids. Another significant factor differentiating these horizons was the incorporation of clays and silicates into the Oa horizons. Calculated ratios of characteristic spectral bands showed a clear trend of increasing decomposition from Oi to Oe to Oa. The DRIFT spectra were related to many site/soil attributes including land cover type, parent material, and associated factors, such as permafrost presence/absence, drainage class, horizon depth, bulk density, cation exchange capacity, and pH. A single DRIFT spectral band was identified that might be used in future studies to quickly estimate the organic carbon, total nitrogen, and carbon:nitrogen ratios of northern soils. Our results demonstrate that the information contained in DRIFT spectra of soil integrates the quantity and chemical composition of soil organic matter with soil properties and highlights the potential for using this information to assess the degradation state of organic matter stored in northern cold-region soils.

Study of temperature effects on the electrical behavior of polypropylene-clay nanocomposites submitted to electron beam irradiation in a SEM

Charge transport and electron emission properties in polypropylene and its nanocomposites filled with nanoclay particles submitted to an electron irradiation, in a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), are investigated using induced displacement and leakage currents. The measurements have been performed at various temperatures ranging from 20°C to 75°C at a primary beam energy of 20keV and a primary beam current of 1nA with the aim to highlight the effect of temperature and nanoclay content on these properties. The results show, at a given temperature, that the incorporation of clay in polypropylene (PP) matrix paradoxically leads to a concomitant increase in the electrical conductivity and the charge accumulated. In contrast, if the clay content is fixed, there is an increase in conductivity and a reduction of the charge accumulated when the temperature increases. The mobility of charge carriers and the corresponding activation energy are deduced from the measured leakage current during discharging step. The mobility was found to be an order of magnitude higher for the nanocomposites. The study of the influence of the temperature and nanoclay concentration on electron emission yield is also addressed.

Development of acrylic‐based powder coatings with incorporation of montmorillonite clays

ABSTRACTPowder coatings have been receiving attention because they are environmentally friendly. They do not contain solvents in their composition, and their components have decorative and corrosion‐protection functions, among many others. However, the presence of polymers in their composition increases the risk of combustion in adverse situations. In this context, this study aims to develop and characterize acrylic‐based powder paints with the addition of 2 wt % and 4 wt % montmorillonite clays (MMT) as Cloisite 30B (MMT‐30B) and Cloisite 15A (MTT‐15A), employed as flame retardants. The characterization of the coatings was carried out by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X‐ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. After application of the coatings on carbon steel substrates, flammability tests were performed. The coatings with 2 wt % MMT‐30B showed overall better results, especially in the flammability tests. Flames spread less on these coatings than on the other systems. However, when the surface and bottom temperatures were analyzed by the cone calorimeter test, the samples prepared with 4 wt % MMT‐15A were considered safer to be applied in fire scenarios. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 45031.

An Evaluation of Marine Sediments in Terms of their usability in the Brick Industry: Case Study Port of Koper

A dredging process is essential for the development of harbours and ports, allowing the functional daily operation of the port. The management of dredged material represents a worldwide challenge, especially considering unwanted deposition of material. Because of their chemical, petrographic, mineralogical and homogeneity composition, marine sediments could represent an appropriate raw material for the brick industry, particularly for the production of clay blocks, roofing and ceramic tiles. In this study dredged material from Port of Koper was tested for such use, thus various analyses were carried out in order to determine if the dredged material is environmentally friendly and suitable for use in the brick industry. These included: chemical analysis, mineralogical analysis, particle size analysis, chloride content analysis and tests of firing in a gradient furnace. Furthermore, tests of mechanical properties, as well as tests of the frost-resistance of the samples were carried out. On the basis of the primary analyses and samples prepared in a laboratory, it was confirmed that marine sediments from the Port of Koper, without any additives are only conditionally suitable as a source material for producing brick products, because without additives they exhibit too much shrinkage on drying and firing, as well as high water absorption, this can be improved by the incorporation of suitable additives, for example, virgin clay or other suitable waste material. The approach described herewith can also be followed to assess sediments from other ports and rivers regarding its potential use in clay brick sector.

Thermo‐oxidative stabilization of poly(lactic acid)‐based nanocomposites through the incorporation of clay with in‐built antioxidant activity

ABSTRACTIn this work, an innovative approach to overcome the issue of the poor thermo‐oxidative stability of polymer/clay nanocomposites is proposed. Specifically, biodegradable poly(lactic acid) (PLA)‐based nanocomposites, containing organo‐modified clay with in‐built antioxidant activity, were prepared. Through a two‐step chemical protocol, a hindered phenol antioxidant was chemically linked to the ammonium quaternary salt which was then intercalated between the clay platelets [(AO)OM‐Mt]. The nanocomposites were characterized and their thermo‐oxidative stability during melt processing and under long‐term thermal test conditions was investigated. PLA nanocomposites containing the (AO)OM‐Mt showed higher oxidative stability, along with better clay dispersion, compared to PLA‐nanocomposites containing commercial clay and a free hindered phenol antioxidant. Obtained results can be explained considering that (AO)OM‐Mt may act locally, at the interface, between the silicate layers and the polymer macromolecules, thus contributing to the observed improved stability of the polymer both during processing and under long‐term thermal‐oxidative conditions. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 44974.

In situ upgrading of pyrolysis biofuels by bentonite clay with simultaneous production of heterogeneous adsorbents for water treatment

The ability to in situ upgrade pyrolysis biofuels, together with the production of a value-added byproduct from the solid biomass residue, would reduce the economic and environmental costs of the integrated biorefinery. In the present work, biomass samples (mango pits and pineapple plants) were immersed in Fuller’s Earth (bentonite clay) suspensions. Pyrolysis at low temperatures (290–350°C) showed that the incorporation of Fuller’s Earth into both biomasses increases the amount of H2, CH4, C2H2, C2H4, and C2H6 evolved as compared to raw biomass. The biomasses’ behavior diverges in terms of bio-oil and biochar quality. For mango pit, pretreatment with Fuller’s Earth increased desirable compounds such as furans and hexanes, whereas for pineapple plant oxygenated and high molecular weight compounds increased with pretreatment. While surface areas of both biomasses increased with incorporation of bentonite clay, the mango pit saw a significant increase in adsorption capacity and rate of methylene blue removal from water, whereas the pineapple plant adsorption rate decreased with pretreatment; capacity increased at low pyrolysis temperature and decreased at high temperature. While incorporation of Fuller’s Earth increased the thermal energy required to heat the impregnated mixtures to pyrolysis temperature, a distributed activation energy model analysis shows that activation energy of pyrolysis was virtually the same for impregnated and raw biomass samples, suggesting that this may be either a thermally catalytic or chemically catalytic effect. Thus, incorporation of bentonite into some biomasses may represent positive benefits in terms of in situ upgrading bio-fuels and hybrid biochars produced at lower pyrolysis temperatures.

Characterization and Utilization of Eziulo Clay as an Extender in Emulsion Paint Formulations

A series of emulsion paint samples were prepared using Eziulo clay as an extender, commercial whiting, and titanium dioxide (TiO2). The clay that was calcined at 850oC and sieved to three particle sizes (0.075, 0.100 and 0.150 mm) was incorporated into emulsion paints at varying amounts ranging from 5% - 32% of the total extender and pigment in the paints. Poly (vinyl acetate) was used as the binder while distilled water served as the solvent. The Eziulo clay which consisted mostly of silica (63.30%), alumina (19.40%), and iron (III) oxide (2.10%) had the following properties: pH (6.67), specific gravity (2.47) and oil absorption (34.30 g/100 g clay). The colour and solubility of the clay in dilute hydrochloric acid, acetic acid, sodium chloride solution, methanol and distilled water were generally unaffected either in the cold or when heated expect for the slight solubility observed in methanol. The clay formulated paint samples exhibited higher viscosity (7.0 - 7.80 poise) than the paint sample without Eziulo clay (6.60 poise). Conversely, the pH and specific gravity of the paint sample without Eziulo clay were higher than those of paint sample containing the clay. The surface and hard dry times of the formulated paint samples were greater than that of the paint sample without Eziulo clay. The determined surface dry times were within the range, 16 - 18 min, irrespective of clay content and particle size. The hard dry times of the formulated paint samples were found to reverse with increases in clay content. The paint dry film flexibility was unaffected by the incorporation of clay, irrespective of the amount and clay particle size. The emulsion paint dry films exhibited decreases in film adhesion to substrates with increases in clay content, and increases in film adhesion with increases in clay particle size. The paint dry films did not exhibit any chalking tendency, were resistant to fungal attack, and passed the water drop test. The present study has demonstrated the utility of Eziulo clay in emulsion paint formulations which should justify its use in the surface coatings industry.

Photocatalytic Degradation of Safranine by ZnO–Bentonite: Photodegradation versus Adsorbability

ZnO–bentonite nanocomposite was obtained by incorporation of bentonite clay with ZnO. The effects of pH, contact time, initial dye concentration and photocatalyst dose on the rate of degradation of dye solution were studied. It was observed that working conditions strongly influence the dye removal process. Contact time 70 min and pH 4 was optimized for photocatalytic degradation of Safranine. Adsorption kinetics for 20–80 mg/l dye concentration was found to follow pseudo-second-order kinetics. Adsorption of dye was described by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm. In adsorption isotherm, Langmuir isotherm was found to fit well with experimental data than Freundlich isotherm. The monolayer adsorption capacity was found to be 50 mg/g. The amount of dye adsorbed (q t ) increases from 17.31 to 159.62 mg/g as dye concentration increases from 20 to 80 mg/l for 0.4 g/l photocatalyst dose. The photocatalytic degradation of Safranine by ZnO–bentonite takes place by advanced oxidation process.

Morphological evolution and mechanical property enhancement of natural rubber/polypropylene blend through compatibilization by nanoclay

ABSTRACTNanocomposites of natural rubber (NR)/polypropylene (PP) (80/20 wt %) blends filled with 5 phr pristine clay were prepared by melt‐mixing process. Effects of clay incorporation technique via conventional melt‐mixing (CV) and masterbatch mixing (MB) methods on nanostructure and properties of the blend nanocomposites were investigated. The XRD, SAXS, WAXD, and TEM results showed that the clays in the NR/PP blend nanocomposites were presented in different states of dispersion and were locally existed at the interface between NR and PP as well as dispersed in the NR matrix. The presence of clay caused unique morphological evolution such as fine fibrillar PP domains. The tensile strength was improved over the unfilled NR/PP blends by 53% and 224%, and the storage modulus at 25 °C was increased by 78% and 120% for the NR/PP/clay nanocomposites prepared by CV and MB methods, respectively. Significant improvement in both properties was particularly obtained from the MB method due to finer dispersion fibrillar PP phase in the NR matrix and stronger interfacial adhesion between NR and PP fibers, as suggested from DMA. The oil resistance of blend nanocomposites was also improved over that of the unfilled NR/PP blend, and this property was further progressed by the masterbatch mixing method. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci.2017,134, 44574.

Biodegradable Poly(Lactic Acid)/Perkalite Clay Nanocomposites: Gas Barrier Properties

Nanocomposite films based on poly (lactic) acid (PLA) and organically nanoclay Perkalite were prepared by solvent casting method. The incorporation of Perkalite clay in PLA film was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. Morphology of PLA/Perkalite film was investigated using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The gas barrier properties of PLA nanocomposite films were determined through oxygen transmission rate (OTR) and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) measurement. Results from FTIR analysis indicates that Perkalite clay was incorporated in PLA film. SEM images show that dispersion of Perkalite particle on the PLA matrix was good with the additional of clay up to 3 pph (parts of clay per hundred part of PLA). The maximum reduction in OTR and WVTR of that nanocomposite film with Perkalite loading of 3 pph are 76% and 37%, respectively compared with neat PLA film. This proves that gas barrier property of PLA film is improved significantly with incorporation of Perkalite clay. The PLA/Perkalite nanocomposite film is a promising as green based packaging materials.

A comparative study on sorption of arsenate ions from water by crosslinked chitosan and crosslinked chitosan/MMT nanocomposite

Montmorillonite (MMT) clay incorporated chitosan (CT) nanocomposite was prepared by simplified ionic gelation method. Different characterization techniques were performed to investigate the binding and structural properties of prepared materials. It was found that incorporation of clay into chitosan followed by crosslinking with glutaraldehyde (GLU) enhances the arsenate sorption rate and better stability was observed on cyclic run compared to glutaraldehyde crosslinked chitosan (Ct/Glu). The sorption process attained equilibrium within 90min of treatment time and a dose of 2g/L of crosslinked chitosan/MMT (MMT/Ct/Glu) was sufficient to bring down the arsenate concentration below 0.01mg/L. Increase in initial ion concentration of arsenate ions decreases the sorption rate, but the ion uptake capacity increases. The sorption was reasonably explained with Langmuir (RL∼0.995 & 0.996 for MMT/Ct/Glu & Ct/Glu) and Freundlich isotherms (n∼2.75 & 3.12 for MMT/Ct/Glu & Ct/Glu). The R2 values indicated a monolayer type of chemisorption pattern. The sorption process was found to be governed by pseudo second order kinetics.

Effect of sonication and clay content on the properties of unsaturated polyester/montmorillonite nanocomposites

The aim of this work is to evaluate the effect of sonication and clay content on the crosslinking and curing characteristics and the final properties of unsaturated polyester/montmorillonite nanocomposites. The Cloisite 30B clay (1, 3 or 5 wt.%) was dispersed in the resin by mechanical stirring and sonication at different ultrasonic amplitudes (20% and 30%). Amplitude is one of the most important parameter when reproducing sonication results. An increase in viscosity with clay incorporation, at 20% amplitude, was related to the better dispersion, corroborating differential scanning calorimetry results. The sequential diffractograms confirmed the influence of the clay on resin crosslinking and the curing process. An intercalated structure was observed for samples up to 3 wt.% of clay and an amplitude of 20% during sonication, corroborating the increase in flexural strength and lower values of coefficient of thermal expansion. Modulus increased with the incorporation of clay, whereas impact strength and linear burning rate declined.