Unsaturated polyester-clay slurry nanocomposites

In this work, nanocomposites were produced with an unsaturated polyester resin and sodium montmorillonite (MMT) slurry. Upon increasing the clay content [from 1 to 5 parts per hundred resin (phr)] increments of 57% and up to 120% were found in the flexural modulus, with respect to that of the resin alone. Using clay slurry, the cross-linking reaction was affected by the clay, in such a way that the gelation temperature and the thermal stability increased. Using transmission and scanning electron microscopy, resin intercalation into the MMT silicate layers was observed and the fracture morphology revealed the effect of the clay slurry on the nanocomposite morphology. Furthermore, shear and oscillatory rheological tests revealed the formation of a structure between resin and clay at low shear rates, and the presence of this structure was evidenced by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements.