Preparation and characterization of polypropylene/clay nanocomposites with polypropylene-graft-maleic anhydride

Polypropylene (PP)/montmorillonite (MMT) nanocomposites were prepared by the esterification of propylene‐g‐maleic anhydride (MAPP) with MMT modified with α,ω‐hydroxyamines. The structural characterization confirmed the formation of ester linkages and the interaction between the silicate layers. In particular, X‐ray diffraction patterns of the modified clays and MAPP/MMT composites showed 001 basal spacing enlargement as great as 0.14–0.62 nm according to the type of α,ω‐hydroxyamine. Thermal characterization by thermogravimetric analysis for the composites revealed increased onset temperatures of thermal decomposition. The melting peak temperature decreased, and the crystallization peak temperature increased; this indicated that MMT retarded the crystallization of MAPP. Compounding PP with MAPP/MMT composites enhanced the tensile modulus and tensile strength of PP. However, the elongation at break decreased drastically even when the MMT content was as low as 0.4–2.0 wt %. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 1229–1234, 2005