Effect of Textured Surfactant Brushes on Polymer-Layered Silicate Nanocomposite Morphology

摘要

Tbe morpbological bebavior of a series of polymer-layered silicate flaflocomposiWs (PLSNs) has been investigated. The goal was to probe the effect of silicate surfaces on PLSN morphology. The nanocomposiWs were fabricated by mixing montmorillonite clay that was carefully modified with tailor-made polystyrene (PS) surfactants into a PS homopolymer matrix, where the chemical similarity of the matrix polymer and surfactants ensures complete miscibility of surfactant and homopolymer. To examine the effect of silicate surface texture, clay was modified with combinations of long and short surtactants. The samples, characterized by small-angle x-ray scatwring (SAXS), were flen melt-amealed to allow the equilibrirn morphology to develop. Based on fle implications of tac Balazs model and otaer work on tac wefling behavior of polymer melts, textured surfaces were expected to promote tac intercalation of the homopolymer matrix matenal into the modified clay. ExWnsive daracWrization of bota tac modified clays as well as tac resultant NANOCOMPOSIWs clearly showed that the modified clays exhibited a high degree of order, but also taat only phase-separated morphologies were foned in the corresponding nanocomposiWs.