Hydrophilic nature of epoxy polymers can lead to both reversible and irreversible/permanent changes in epoxy upon moisture absorption. The permanent changes leading to the degradation of mechanical properties due to combined effect of moisture and elevated temperature on EPON 862, Nanomer I.28E, and Somasif MAE clay-epoxy nanocomposites are investigated in this study. The extent of permanent de...

Nearly all muds, in drilling applications, contain smectite clay minerals, such as montmorillonite or hectorite, which have the remarkable property of swelling in the presence of water. Such systems are known to exhibit long-term gelation and thixotropic behavior, of great importance in applications, depending on clay volume fraction, particle properties (origin of the clay, surface charge, etc...

The preparation of a high-strength and highly transparent nacre-like nanocomposite via layer-by-layer assembly technique from poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and Na+-montmorillonite clay nanosheets is reported in this article. We show that a high density of weak bonding interactions between the polymer and the clay particles: hydrogen, dipole-induced dipole, and van der Waals undergoing break-reform ...

An aqueous-based microcompartmentalized model involving the integration of partially hydrophobic Fe(III)-rich montmorillonite (FeM) clay particles as structural and catalytic building blocks for colloidosome membrane assembly, self-directed membrane remodeling, and signal-induced protocell communication is described. The clay colloidosomes exhibit size- and charge-selective permeability, and sh...

Introduction: The remediation of nuclear contamination in soils and sediments at the Savannah River Site, SC (SRS) is an ongoing government project with implications for the health of ecosystems near the site. In addition to environmental protection, the safety of the food and drinking water produced in the region is also at risk for impurity. In previous studies, hydroxy-interlayered vermiculi...