Effect of the type of organic modifier on the polymerization kinetics and the properties of poly(methyl methacrylate)/organomodified montmorillonite nanocomposites

Abstract A series of organomodified montmorillonite clays (OMMTs) such as intercalated modified montmorillonite with alkylammonium or alkylphosphonium salts (AA-MMT or AP-MMT) and double modified MMT with alkylammonium or alkylphosphonium salts and silane coupling agent (SAA-MMT or SAP-MMT) was successfully prepared in this study. The effect of the amount of nanofiller and type of organic modifier of the OMMT on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/OMMT nanocomposites synthesized by in situ bulk polymerization was investigated. The structural and morphological characteristics of the obtained nanocomposites were studied by means of X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, indicating that exfoliation is more likely to occur in case of nanocomposites with small amounts of AA-MMT and SAA-MMT. The kinetic study results showed that the presence of AA-MMT enhances polymerization kinetics, while AP-MMT acts rather as a reaction retarder. The presence of the nanofiller and the augmentation of the OMMT content increased the thermal stability of all nanocomposites, as measured by thermogravimetric analysis, as well as their average molecular weight measured by gel permeation chromatography. Measurements of the tensile properties revealed that the Young’s modulus increased for all nanocomposites along with a decrease of the ultimate strain, while the tensile strength varied regardless of the extent of exfoliation.