Polymer-clay nanocomposites: polystyrene grafted onto montmorillonite interlayers

Vinyl monomer-montmorillonite intercalate which is able to swell and disperse in organic solvents has been prepared by a cation exchange process. Radical polymerization of the penetrated styrene between the interlayers of vinyl monomer-montmorillonite (10 wt%) has resulted in grafted polystyrene-montmorillonite material. This material contains 1.11 g polystyrene/1 g montmorillonite with a basal spacing of 24.5 Å. The molecular weight of the external polystyrene was found in the range of 22000. The vinyl monomer-montmorillonite and the polystyrene-montmorillonite intercalates have been identified by XRD, elemental analysis and IR. The SEM and TEM of polystyrene-montmorillonite material showed spherical particles of size about 150–400 nm in diameter.