Morphology and thermal behavior of organo-bentonite clay/poly(styrene-co-methacrylic acid)/poly(isobutyl methacrylate-co-4-vinylpyridine) nanocomposites
Abstract
Poly(styrene-co-methacrylic acid) containing 29 mol % of methacrylic acid (SMA-29) and poly(isobutyl methacrylate-co-4-vinylpyridine) containing 20 mol % of 4-vinylpyridine (IBM4VP-20) were synthesized, characterized, and used to elaborate binary and ternary nanocomposites of different ratios with a 3% by weight hexadecylammonium-modified bentonite from Maghnia (Algeria) by casting method from tetrahydrofuran (THF) solutions. The morphology and the thermal behavior of these binary and ternary elaborated nanocomposites were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetry. Polymer nanocomposites and nanoblends of different morphologies were obtained. The effect of the organoclay and its dispersion within the blend matrix on the phase behavior of the miscible SMA29/IBM4VP20 blends is discussed. The obtained results showed that increasing the amount of SMA29 in the IBM4VP20/SMA29 blend leads to near exfoliated nanostructure with significantly improved thermal stability. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009
