Use of Pristine Clay Platelets as a Suspension Stabilizer for the Synthesis of Poly(methyl methacrylate)/Clay Nanocomposites

The role of Na + ‐mmt platelets as a stabilizer during the suspension polymerization of MMA is described. The addition of a small amount of Na + ‐mmt into the system without suspension stabilizer results in the formation of spherical beads of PMMA/Na + ‐mmt nanocomposites with uniform sizes, whereas in the presence of o‐mmt, it resulted in the formation of PMMA/o‐mmt composite clusters. FT‐IR spectroscopy reveals a strong interaction between the PMMA carbonyl groups with the clay surface in the PMMA/Na + ‐mmt nanocomposite. DSC results indicate a significant increase in the glass transition temperature of PMMA in the PMMA/Na + ‐mmt nanocomposite as compared to that of the PMMA/o‐mmt nanocomposite. The thermal stability of PMMA is also increased in the case of the PMMA/Na + ‐mmt nanocomposite. magnified image