Reinforcement of polyurethane/epoxy interpenetrating network nanocomposites with an organically modified palygorskite

An organophilic palygorskite (o‐PGS) prepared by the treatment of natural palygorskite with hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide was incorporated into interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) of polyurethane (PU) and epoxy resin (EP), and a series of PU/EP/clay nanocomposites were obtained by a sequential polymeric technique and compression‐molding method. X‐ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that adding nanosize o‐PGS could promote the compatibility and phase structure of PU/EP IPN matrices. Tensile testing and thermal analysis proved that the mechanical and thermal properties of the PU/EP IPN nanocomposites were superior to those of the pure PU/EP IPN. This was attributed to the special fibrillar structure of palygorskite and the synergistic effect between o‐PGS and the IPN matrices. In addition, the swelling behavior studies indicated that the crosslink density of PU/EP IPN gradually increased with increasing o‐PGS content. The reason may be that o‐PGS made the chains more rigid and dense. As for the flame retardancy, the PU/EP nanocomposites had a higher limiting oxygen index than the pure PU. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009