Poly ethyl acrylate bentonite nanocomposites

T TANG, X TONG, Z FENG and B HUANG, Chinese Academy of Sciences, People s Republic of China 

The four main strategic processes for preparing polymer/layered silicate nanocomposites are exfoliation-adsorption, in situ intercalative polymerization, melt intercalation and template synthesis.  

Exfoliation-adsorption in emulsion with Na -montmorillonite, known to readily delaminate clay in water has been studied to promote intercalation of water insoluble polymers. Studies by Lee et al showed that only intercalated nanocomposites were obtained in systems PMMA, PS, ° and 

Studies on rubbery polymers have rarely been reported. It was reported that in the case of non-emulsion polymerization, clays exfoliated in a rubbery matrix performed better than in a glassy matrix. A new type of nanocomposite of clay with poly (butyl acrylate) (PBA) has been prepared successfully using intercalation-polymerization process. 

Here poly(ethyl aerylate) (PEA)/clay nanocompsite as the first example of rubbery polymer/elay nanocomposite synthesized by in situ emulsion polymerization is reported. The clay used is bentonite having extremely strong swelling characteristies in water. The resulting nanocomposite emulsion is directly cast to form film without coagulation process. This study focuses on microstructure, thermal and meehanical properties, and gas barrier permeability of the final PEA/clay nanoeomposites. 

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X. Tong, H. Zhao, T. Tang, Z. Feng, B. Huang, Preparation and characterization of poly(ethyl acrylate)/bentonite nanocomposites by in situ emulsion polymerization. Journal of Polymer Science Part A Polymer Chemistry 40 (2002) 1706-1711. 

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