preparation of polyurethane/clay nanocomposites: investigating the dispersion of organoclays in ptmeg

good dispersion of nano-particles in polymer matrices is a crucial parameter in determining the final properties of polymer nanocomposites. in this work, the distributions of cloisite 30b, cloisite 10a and cloisite 93a in ptmeg, popular polyols in the polyurethane manufacturing, were investigated in the nano, micro and macro scales. this investigation was carried out using x-ray diffraction, rheometry and visual observation. the x-ray results indicated that the distance between the layers increased after addition of the polymer but this increase was higher in case of cloisite 30b than the two other nanoclays. the rheological measurements also showed that cloisite 30b induces a stronger structure within the suspension. visual observation of the various suspensions verified the above hypothesis.