POLYMER MELT INTERCALATION IN ORGANICALLY-MODIFIED LAYERED SILICATES - MODEL PREDICTIONS AND EXPERIMENT

The effect of silicate functionalization, anneal temperature, polymer molecular weight, and constituent interactions on polymer melt interca lation of a variety of styrene-derivative polymers in alkylammonium-fu nctionalized silicates is examined. Hybrid formation requires an optim al interlayer structure for the organically-modified layered silicate (OLS), with respect to the number per host area and size of the alkyla mmonium chains, as well as the presence of polar interactions between the OLS and polymer. From these observations and the qualitative predi ctions of the mean-field lattice-based model of polymer melt intercala tion (preceding paper in this issue), general guidelines may be establ ished for selecting potentially compatible polymer-OLS systems. The in terlayer structure of the OLS should be optimized to maximize the conf igurational freedom of the functionalizing chains upon layer separatio n while maximizing potential interaction sites with the surface. The m ost successful polymers for intercalation exhibited polar character or contained Lewis-acid/base groups.