Improvement of the viscoelastic and thermal properties of polyvinyl acetate reinforced with organophilic clay (Algerian MMT)

•in this study we tested our heterogeneous catalyst called maghnite (Algerian MMT)•Maghnite-H+ is a non-toxic catalyst (Algerian MMT)•This paper developed the application of Maghnite-H+ and Maghnite-Na+ as an new and efficient catalyst for polymerization of vinyl acetate and its mechanical and thermal properties.•The viscosity of the formed polymer depend on the proportion of catalyst in the reaction.•The molecular weight depend on the molar ratio of comonomers and catalyst.•Maghnite-H+ change chemicals physicals and properties optic of polymer. Polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) has many favorable characteristics: it is non-toxic, harmless, easily producible, inexpensive, practical to apply and environmentally friendly, the same for clay (maghnite) which is a natural nanomineral, source of a large number of raw materials; it is also inexpensive and accessible. The present study shows the synthesis of PVAc with a molar mass Mn = 120,224 g / mol determined by analysis by gel permeation chromatography and the synthesis of organophilic clay (TBA-maghnite) derived from cation exchange of sodium-clay with Tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate which is characterized by short chains, this exchange has been proven with X-ray diffraction (XRD). These clays were also characterized by infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The nanocomposites polymer clay NCPCs were prepared by intercalation of the PVAc polymer within the sheets of organophilic clay under a process of intercalation in solution, The mixture was carried out with different percentages of TBA-Maghnite 1 wt.%, 3 wt.% and 4 wt.%. The exfoliated nanocomposites (PVAc / TBA-Maghnite) were obtained at a concentration of 1 wt.% and 3 wt.%, the Different PVAcNCs were characterized using elemental analysis FTIR, XRD, SEM and dynamic light scattering. The mechanical dynamic study has been well determined in this work. The thermal properties of the nanocomposite were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. PVAcNCs showed better viscoelastic property and good thermal stability compared to pure PVAc.