Synthesis and characterization of novel poly(1-naphthylamine)-montmorillonite nanocomposites intercalated by emulsion polymerization

摘要

Nanocomposites of montmorillonite (MMT) with poly(1-naphthylamine) (PNA) is investigated for the first time by emulsion polymerization using three different oxidants. Polymerization of PNA was confirmed by Fourier transformation infrared (FT-IR) as well as UV-visible spectra. The in situ intercalative polymerization of PNA within MMT layers was confirmed by FT-IR, X-ray diffraction, conductivity; scanning electron microscopy (SEM) as well as transmission electron microscopy studies. X-ray diffraction revealed intercalated as well as exfoliated structures of PNA/MMT nanocomposites, which were compared with the reported polyaniline-MMT nanocomposites. It was found that the increase in the concentration of PNA in the interlayer galleries of MMT led to destruction of the layered clay structure resulting in exfoliation of the nanocomposite. Conductivity of the nanocomposites was found to be in the range of 10(-3) to 10(-2) S cm(-1) which was found to be higher than the ones reported for polyaniline-clay nanocomposites as well as PEOA-OMMT nanocomposites at similar concentrations of intercalated species. The morphology of PNA/MMT nanocomposites was found to be governed by the nature of the oxidant used.