Preparation of Optically Transparent Films of Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and Montmorillonite

摘要

Transparent polymeric material with enhanced thermal, mechanical and barrier properties are of special interest for advanced structural, optical and photonic applications. The present paper reports a novel solution processing scheme for fabricating optically transparent polymer nanocomposites involving organophilic layered silicates. It is shown that the nanocomposite material prepared with PMMA and an organically modified montmorrilonite maintains the excellent optical transparency of PMMA. Small-angle x-ray scattering of the polymer nanocomposite material does not show any Bragg's reflection of the organophilic layered silicate. The optical transparency of the nanocomposite material is attributed to a high degree of exfoliation of the montmorrilonite in the polymer matrix.