CLAY PLATELET DISPERSION IN A POLYMER MATRIX

A dispersed clay/polymer nanocomposite was prepared by joining, via a cationic exchange reaction, surfactant monomers to clay platelets and subsequently polymerizing them with acrylamide. Dispersion was made po ssible by preparing a clay surfactant precursor solution, with the sur factant in sufficient excess to form clay-micelle complexes that resis t platelet aggregation. This homogeneous nanoscale dispersion of plate lets was verified using dynamic light scattering.