Influence of Processing Conditions on the Properties of Polystyrene (PS)/organomontmorillonite (OMMT) Nanocomposites Prepared via Solvent Blending Method

A series of polystyrene (PS)/organomontmorillonite (OMMT) clay nanocomposites was prepared by effectively dispersing the inorganic nanolayers of OMMT clay in the organic PS matrix via the solvent blending method using xylene as a solvent. The resulting samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The XRD and TEM results show that the intercalation/exfoliation of OMMT can be divided into solvent swelling and layer breaking processes and is affected by several reaction parameters such as nanofiller loading, refluxing temperature, and refluxing time. TGA data show that the PS/OMMT nanocomposites have significant enhanced thermal stability. When 50% weight loss is selected as a point of comparison, the thermal decomposition temperature of PS/OMMT nanocomposite with 7 wt% of OMMT is 15°C higher than that of pure PS. The glass transition temperature (Tg) of PS/OMMT nanocomposites is about 5.0–6.2°C higher than that of pure PS. The water uptake capacity of PS/OMMT nanocomposites is negligible when compared with pure PS.