Polystyrenes with macro-intercalated organoclay. Part I. Compounding and characterization

Nanocomposites of polystyrene (PS) were prepared using a melt compounding or co-solvent method. Two commercial PS were used, and two organoclays—one prepared in this laboratory (COPS), and the other commercial Cloisite^® 10A (C10A). The COPS is a product of clay intercalation with a copolymer of styrene and vinyl benzyl tri-methyl ammonium chloride. According to the XRD diffraction data, the clay platelets in COPS and its PNC with PS were relatively well dispersed, i.e. with the interlayer spacings of d₀₀₁=7-8 nm. By contrast, d₀₀₁ in PNC prepared with C10A was only 4 nm. However, the number of clay platelets per stack in PS/COPS was found to be significantly larger than that in PS/C10A, viz. m=3-12, compared to m=2-6. The scanning and transmission electron microscopy indicated that in the PS matrix COPS existed in form of large, immiscible domains.