POLYMER-CLAY NANOCOMPOSITES - POLYSTYRENE GRAFTED ONTO MONTMORILLONITE INTERLAYERS

Vinyl monomer-montmorillonite intercalate which is able to swell and d isperse in organic solvents has been prepared by a cation exchange pro cess. Radical polymerization of the penetrated styrene between the int erlayers of vinyl monomer-montmorillonite (10 wt%) has resulted in gra fted polystyrene-montmorillonite material. This material contains 1.11 g polystyrene/1 g montmorillonite with a basal spacing of 24.5 Angstr om. The molecular weight of the external polystyrene was found in the range of 22000. The vinyl monomer-montmorillonite and the polystyrene- montmorillonite intercalates have been identified by XRD, elemental an alysis and IR. The SEM and TEM of polystyrene-montmorillonite material showed spherical particles of size about 150-400 nm in diameter.