| Abstract: | Ethylene–vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymers/clay nanocomposites, prepared by using nonreactive organophilic clay and reactive organophilic clay, were characterized by X‐ray diffraction and by high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy. The influence of gamma irradiation on the structure and properties of the pure EVA and EVA/clay nanocomposites was systematically investigated. In the presence of gamma radiation, the clay can effectively restrain the increase of the storage modulus of EVA/clay nanocomposites, which was supported by dynamical mechanical analysis. Gamma irradiation had almost no effect on the thermal properties of EVA/clay nanocomposites by using nonreactive organophilic clay, but it obviously improved the thermal stability of EVA/clay nanocomposites by using reactive organophilic clay. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 2532–2538, 2005 |
