Compatibilization of clays and hydrophobic polymers: the case of montmorillonite and polyetheretherketone

K Zandsalimi and B Akbari and F Mehrnejad and R Bagheri, POLYMER BULLETIN, 77, 5505-5527 (2020).

DOI: 10.1007/s00289-019-03036-y

In the last three decades, nanoclay fillers have been increasingly used to improve the mechanical, thermal, barrier and biological properties of the polymers. Nevertheless, incorporation of clays into the hydrophobic polymer matrices leads to the formation of the microcomposites with the minimal improvement in properties. To overcome the intrinsic incompatibility between the clays and the hydrophobic polymers, clay particles are organophilized using organic modifiers. The organic modifier should be thermodynamically miscible with the polymer. In the case of the composites prepared at high temperatures, the organic modifier should also have a high thermal stability to withstand the processing temperature. Taking into account these requisites, this study proposes a novel procedure for screening the diverse sets of the ionic liquids to find the most appropriate organic modifiers for compatibilization of the clays and any given hydrophobic polymers. The proposed procedure has been used to find the appropriate organic modifier to compatibilize montmorillonite clay (MMT) and polyetheretherketone (PEEK). Composites of PEEK filled with MMT and the organically modified MMT (OMMT) were synthesized via melt compounding. Then, they were characterized by FTIR, XRD and TEM. The results showed that the selected organic modifier satisfied both the processing requirements and the thermodynamic considerations and improved the dispersion of MMT particles within the PEEK matrix. The XRD patterns and TEM micrographs confirmed the formation of the PEEK/OMMT nanocomposite with intercalated/exfoliated morphology. The findings of this study provide a practical means for compatibilization of immiscible clays and polymers.

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