Enhanced Effect of Montmorillonite on Overall Properties of Polyimide-crown Ether Complex

Organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT) was incorporated into the complex of 18-crown-6 (CE) and polyimide-croum ether (PI[CE]), and its effect on the properties of the complex was evaluated in terms of thermal behaviors, coefficient of thermal expansion, mechanical properties, dynamic mechanical properties and water absorption. The results indicate that the overall properties of PI[CE] complex are obviously enhanced. A very low coefficient of thermal expansion of 17.9 ppm/K, a high tensile strength of 124.5 MPa, and toughness of 30.8 MJ/m 3 can be achieved for the OMMT/PI[CE] nanocomposite with 3wt% OMMT. Meanwhile, the thermal stability of the PI[CE] complex is improved, and its 5% weight loss ( T d5% ) and T g increase by 10.6 and 23.0 °C, respectively, and the water absorption rate decreases from 1.73% to 1.13%. The homogeneous dispersion and strong interactions of OMMT with PI[CE] matrix are responsible for the superior properties of the nanocomposites according to SEM and XRD results.