Novel organic modification of montmorillonite in hydrocarbon solvent using ionic liquid‐type surfactant for the preparation of polyolefin–clay nanocomposites

The possibility of organic modification of montmorillonite (MMT) in hydrocarbon solvents by employing ionic liquid‐type surfactants was investigated. As a first example, 1‐methyl‐3‐tetradecylimidazolium chloride (C₁₄mim]⁺Cl^?) was used to treat pristine MMT in xylene. The dispersion of MMT in xylene was significantly improved, the collected organifically modified MMT displayed a sufficiently enlarged interlayer spacing. The novel art of MMT organic modification is specifically advantageous to the preparation of polyolefin‐based nanocomposites. A polypropylene/MMT nanocomposite was exemplarily prepared by directly dissolving polypropylene in the MMT modification system and found to possess an excellent thermal stability. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 4314–4320, 2006