Abstract
Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) /layered silicate nanocomposities were synthesized by in situ polymerization activated by microwave energy. In order to investigate the effect of the amount of clay (C10A) on the structure and thermal properties, the synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). It was found that the structure of nanocomposites, an intercalated/exfoliated structure, depended on the clay content. The thermal properties of the synthesized PMMA/clay nanocomposites, Tg, increased continuously with the C10A content, at least until a content of 5 wt%, beyond which the Tg leveled off and /or decreased. The improvement of thermal properties is attributed to that the PMMA chains are fixed inside of the sheets of the clay, and layers of the clay can effectively suppress quick transmit of the heat and segmental motions of the polymer chains.
