Polymer–montmorillonite clay nanocomposites. Part 1: Complexation of montmorillonite clay with a vinyl monomer

An organo‐clay complex was formed by the exchange reaction of a quaternary ammonium salt of a derivatized styrene monomer with Na+‐montmorillonite clay. The binding of the derivatized styrene monomer with the montmorillonite clay was confirmed by FTIR and the diffused reflectance analysis. The increase of the d‐spacing of the derivatized styrene‐N+–montmorillonite clay complex to 1.47 nm, measured by X‐ray diffraction, indicates that a monolayer of the monomer is adsorbed between adjacent montmorillonite layers. A molecular modeling of the monomer suggested a benzene ring tilted to the c‐axis of the montmorillonite clay. The carbon content of the styrene‐N+–montmorillonite clay of 11.02 % suggested a complete surface coverage of the clay by the monomer and a surface coverage of 0.74 nm2 per exchange site of the montmorillonite.