Synthesis and Characterization of a Styrene-Based Terpolymer and its Composites with Kaolin Clay

Here we report the preparation of a terpolymer of styrene with butyl acrylate and vinyl acetate in emulsion via free radical polymerization and its composites with kaolin clay. The emulsion ter-polymerization was carried out at 70 ℃ using sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) as an emulsifier and potassium persulfate (KPS) as a free radical initiator. The latex obtained in this emulsion polymerization was coagulated to obtain the terpolymer. Thus, the obtained terpolymer was purified and analyzed via NMR analysis for structural evaluation. However, latex was used to prepare a series of terpolymer/kaolin clay composites by mixing with kaolin clay (K) at different weight ratios. The effect of the amount of kaolin on the properties of the terpolymer/clay composites was studied. Surface morphology and crystallinity were also studied for all those prepared composites. It was observed that the incorporation of kaolin clay increases the roughness and crystallinity in the terpolymer/kaolin clay composites. It was also observed that 10% kaolin clay contain composite was show good interaction between clay and polymer matrix among the five set of composites evaluated from FTIR and PXRD analysis. This composites also show more roughness analyzed by SEM.