Effects of molecular weight and clay organo‐ions on the melt intercalation of poly(ethylene oxide) into layered silicates

Abstract

Abstract A useful and desirable method of synthesizing nanoscale organic‐inorganic composites is to intercalate polymers into layered silicates by melt intercalation. Nanocomposites of poly(ethylene oxide) with a sodium montmorillonite and an organoions exchanged bentonite have been prepared by melt intercalation. The effects of polymer molecular weight, the nature of the clay (one unmodified, the other with organo‐ion) and the presence of water molecules in the clay galleries have been investigated. Based on X‐ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), a distorted helical conformation is thought to describe the conformation of the PEO chains in the hybrid materials.