Current Progress on the Study of Model, Polystyrene-Based, Polymer- Layered Silicate Nanocomposites

摘要

The morphological behavior of a series of polystyrene-based, polymer- layered silicate nanocomposites is being studied. The materials and parametric variations were designed to probe the Balazs model, which predicts that under certain circumstances, a homopolymer can intercalate or even exfoliate a modified layered silicate clay mineral at thermodynamic equilibrium. At the current time, the morphological and mechanical behaviors of two new series of samples are being characterized. These results are presented here.