Synthetic talc as a new platform for producing fluorescent clay polyurethane nanocomposites

As a non-swelling clay, talc generally interacts very weakly with organic molecules. However, two new nanometric synthetic talcs that incorporate berberine chloride were successfully used as fluorescent fillers in clay polyurethane nanocomposites obtained by the blending method. A micrometric natural talc filler was also used for comparison. The clay polymer nanocomposites (CPN) were characterized by FTIR, molar mass analysis and XRD. All talc fillers were well dispersed into the polyurethane matrix even at high filler content of 5 wt%, as supported by TEM and SEM analyses. Morphological changes were confirmed by AFM. The optical properties of the fluorescent talcs, dye-doped polymer and CPN were compared. While the dye-doped polymer suffered from conventional fluorescence quenching due to dye aggregation, the emission quantum yield of the CPN was increased with increasing the filler content. The best emission efficiency was observed for the CPN that contains the smallest talc-berberine hybrid particles. The use of fluorescent synthetic talc resulted in materials with good thermal and mechanical properties, and can be considered as a new method to produce fluorescent CPN in view of multiple applications. [Display omitted] •Unexpectedly, dye molecules were efficiently adsorbed on non-swelling clay particles.•A very stable and easy-to-use hybrid was obtained.•The organo-mineral filler was well incorporated into a polyurethane matrix.•The clay polymer nanocomposites had increased stiffness and good fluorescence properties.•This concept could be extended to the preparation of various fluorescent CPN.