A stibonium-modified clay and its polystyrene nanocomposite

摘要

Triphenylhexadecylstibonium trifluoromethylsulfonate has been prepared and ion-exchanged with sodium montmorillonitc to obtain a new organically-modified clay. The clay has higher thermal stability than an ammonium clay; only a portion of the alkyl chain is lost during degradation and all of the antimony is retained. This clay has been used to prepare a polystyrene nanocomposite in which the clay is not uniformly distributed throughout the polymer. Nonetheless the polymer does insert into the clay layers and the d-spacing of the clay expands from 2.0 to 3.0 nm. The enhanced thermal stability of this system may mean that it could be useful for polymers which must be processed at temperatures above that at which the ammonium clays undergo degradation.