Optical films based on poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV) and its nanocomposites

Nanocomposites of poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV) were studied. The natural sodium-montmorillonite was cation exchanged with bis(hydrogenated tallowalkyl) dimethyl quaternary ammonium chloride. Content of modified montmorillonite had varied from 30-60 wt% in pure PPV. These polymer/layered silicate nanocomposites were synthesized and consisted of different organically-modified clays, proven by TGA, WAXD, FTIR, and TEM. Barrier property and color tunability improved with increasing organophilic clay content. The rate of photoluminescence decay in polymer-clay nanocomposites drastically reduced compared to that of pristine polymer. The results showed important implications for enhanced lifetime of polymer-clay nanocomposites based optoelectronic devices.