Nanocomposite articles and process for making

This invention relates to polymer systems reinforced with delaminated or exfoliated multi-layered silicates, that is, nanocomposite polymer systems. An improved process for making a structural foamed polymer, a multilayer polymer film, sheet or tube, a pultrusion polymer profile, a compression molded extruded fiber reinforced polymer pre-form, a strand foamed polymer and a SCORIM formed polymer article. The improvement includes the step of dispersing a multi-layered silicate material with the polymer so that the polymer has dispersed therein single layers of silicate material, double layers of silicate material, triple layers of silicate material, four layers of silicate material, five layers of silicate material and more than five layers of silicate material, the volume percent of the one, two, three, four and five layers of silicate material greater than the volume percent of the more then five layers of silicate material. In each of the above embodiments an important benefit of the instant invention is the orientation of the plane of the layers of silicate material. Preferably, most of the layers of silicate material have substantially the same orientation within thirty degrees of angle. Such orientation improves the properties of the product and provides a practical way to make larger products. The amount of multi-layered silicate material used is preferably between one and twenty percent.