Study of interlayer spacing collapse during polymer/clay nanocomposite melt intercalation.

The influence of the chemical structure of alkylammonium organo-modifying montmorillonite clays on the ability to form nanocomposites by melt blending, depending on the processing temperature and the organoclay thermal treatment, has been investigated. On one side chlorinated polyethylene/Cloisite 30B (nano)composite has been prepared by melt intercalation at 175 degrees C and its wide angle X-ray diffraction pattern revealed that the peak characteristic of the interlayer spacing of the organoclay was shifted to lower d-spacing, indicating a collapse of the organoclay structure. On the other side, (nano)composites based on ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer/Cloisite 30B have been prepared by melt intercalation at 140 degrees C.

Functionalization of MWCNTs with atomic nitrogen.

In this study of the changes induced by exposing MWCNTs to a nitrogen plasma, it was found by HRTEM that the atomic nitrogen exposure does not significantly etch the surface of the carbon nanotube (CNT). Nevertheless, the atomic nitrogen generated by a microwave plasma effectively grafts amine, nitrile, amide, and oxime groups onto the CNT surface, as observed by XPS, altering the density of valence electronic states, as seen in UPS.