Successive Modification of Montmorillonite with Quaternary Alkylammonium Salts of Various Structures as a Method of Preparing Nanofillers for in situ Synthesis of Polymer Nanocomposites

In accordance with the suggested procedure, the strength characteristics of polymers prepared by radical polymerization of vinyl polymers are enhanced by grafting the monomers to the nanofiller surface. When preparing high-strength polymer–aluminosilicate nanocomposites by radical polymerization in situ , it is appropriate to ensure both grafting of polymer chains to the aluminosilicate surface of the filler (montmorillonite) and hydrophobization of the nanofiller surface. To solve this problem, successive modification of montmorillonite with two quaternary ammonium salts with different properties was studied. Fillers with mixed modifiers were prepared, and their structure was determined. Studies of composites with such fillers confirmed the appropriateness of using the mixture of modifiers for preparing the filler: The nanocomposite based on butyl methacrylate, containing organoclay with the mixed modifier, surpasses in the Young’s modulus both unfilled poly(butyl methacrylate) and composites containing nanoclays with the individual modifiers.