Abstract
Poly (vinyl alcohol)(PVA)/montmorillonite (MMT)nanocomposite was prepared simply by castingaqueous suspension. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and tensile test were used to investigate the structure and the mechanical properties of the nanocomposite. In the nanocomposite, MMT layers were found to be successfully exfoliated and nano dispersed in the PVA matrix. The mechanical properties of the nanocomposite increased by the incorporation of only a small amount (5%W/W) of MMT. "X-ray diffraction method" was applied to investigate the stress transfer system in the nanocomposite from a microscopic point of view. The stress on MMT is found to be incredibly high compared with that applied on the whole composite; the outstanding stress transfer in the nanocomposite was revealed. Therefore the high mechanical properties of the PVA/MMTnanocomposite could be attributed to this excellent stress transfer system in the nanocomposite.
