Crystallization of poly(vinyl alcohol) in the presence of an inorganic filler surface (sodium montmorillonite, MMT) was observed and compared to the crystallization of the neat polymer. For this purpose, several atomic force microscopy modes, providing spatial resolution between amorphous and crystalline polymer, are employed to observe filled and unfilled PVA films. The various AFM modes utili...

Sodium montmorillonite (Na-MMT) clay was modified with three different unnatural amino acids in order to design intercalated clay structures that may be used for bone biomaterials applications. Prior work on polymer-clay nanocomposites (PCNs) has indicated the effect of the appropriate choice of modifiers on enhancing properties of PCNs. Our X-ray diffraction results indicate an increase in the...

Methylglucoside (MEG) has been used in the water-based mud with fine montmorillonite (MMT) swelling inhibition, but it still has such shortages as large concentration and low thermostability. In this work, carboxymethyl glucoside (CMG) was synthesized with glucose and sodium chloroacetate and used as swelling inhibitor. The inhibition of CMG against clay swelling was investigated by MMT linear ...

Nanocomposites (NC) were formed using cationic poly(L-lysine) (PLL), a semicrystalline polypeptide, that was reinforced by sodium montmorillonite (MMT) clay via solution intercalation technique. By varying solution conditions such as pH, temperature, and polypeptide concentration in the presence of clay platelets, the secondary structure of PLL was controllably altered into a-helical, b-sheet, ...

Porous clay heterostructures (PCH) based on modified montmorillonite were synthesized using different reaction conditions (different hydration degrees, pH values and reaction times). The PCH precursors and PCH were characterized using FTIR Spectroscopy and X-Ray Diffractions (XRD). The XRD results showed that basal distance of porous clay heterostructures was significantly influenced by the mod...

In the present manuscript a new concept of completely inorganic intumescent flame retardant nanocoating comprised of sodium montmorillonite nanoplatelets embedded in an ammonium polyphosphate matrix has been investigated using cotton as model substrate. The coating, deposited by multistep adsorption from diluted water-based suspensions/solutions, homogenously cover each cotton fibers with avera...

The conformation of polymer chains under confinement is investigated in intercalated polymer/layered silicate nanocomposites. Hydrophilic poly(ethylene oxide)/sodium montmorillonite, PEO/Na+-MMT, hybrids were prepared utilizing melt intercalation with compositions where the polymer chains are mostly within the ~1 nm galleries of the inorganic material. The polymer chains are completely amorphou...

A b s t r a c t S u r f a c e area determinations were made on a montmorillonite with various cations emplaced on the exchangeable sites, utilizing nitrogen and carbon dioxide as adsorbates at 77~ and 195~ respectively, in a dynamic system. From the fraction of a Mississippi montmorillonite less than about 1/x in size, samples were prepared by replacing the original exchangeable cations with Li...

The liquid phase esterification of phenyl acetic acid with p-cresol over different metal cation exchanged montmorillonite nanoclays yields p-cresyl phenyl acetate. Different metal cation exchanged montmorillonite nanoclays (M n+ = Al3+, Zn2+, Mn2+, Fe3+, Cu2+) were prepared and the catalytic activity was studied. The esterification reaction was conducted by varying molar ratio of the reactants,...

A series of montmorillonite-(Ce or Zr) phosphate crosslinked compounds has been synthesized by reaction of a cerium or zirconium cation exchanged montmorillonite (diameter ~2 pm) with phosphoric acid under appropriate conditions of concentration, addition rate and temperature. The materials thus obtained were characterized by chemical and thermal analyses, X-ray diffraction, IR spectroscopy and...