Hybrid macroporous polymer/clay nanocomposites

Abstract

Hybrid polymer/nanocomposites are a new class of materials that consist of polymer matrix and clay nanoparticles as the dispersed phase. The aim of this work was to obtain macroporous poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate)/clay nanocomposites p(GEM-NC) with different porosity and morphology. Macroporous p(GEM) copolymer and two nanocomposite p(GEM-NC) samples with different clay content (2 and 5 wt.%) were synthesized by in situ suspension copolymerization. Nanocomposite samples were reinforced with organomodified montmorillonite clay Cloisite 30B (C30B). Structure, porosity and surface chemistry of the p(GEM) and p(GEM-NC) samples were evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) and mercury porosity. The results show the synthesized p(GEM-NC) have improved textural, structural and morphological properties in comparison with pure macroporous p(GEM) copolymer. The incorporation of C30B in p(GEM) was confirmed by FTIR and SEM/EDS analysis. Also, it was shown that the higher clay content significantly influences the p(GEM-NC) porosity parameters (i.e. specific surface area, specific volume and pore diameter).