EXFOLIATED CLAY-POLYETHYLENE NANOCOMPOSITES OBTAINED BY IN SITU POLYMERIZATION. SYNTHESIS, STRUCTURE, PROPERTIES
A. V. Ivanyuk, V. A. Gerasin, A. V. Rebrov, R. G. Pavelko, and E. M. Antipov UDC 541.64:542.952 Intercalation of titanium complexes active in olefin polymerization into interlayer gaps of natural laminated aluminosilicate of Na+ -montmorillonite modified by dimethyldioctadecylammonium ions has been realized. Using in situ ethylene polymerization on intercalated complexes, polyethylene-modified montmorillonite nanocomposites with an aluminosilicate content from 4 to 43 mass % have been obtained. It has been proved by x-ray structural analysis that at a filler content of up to 24 mass % they represent exfoliated nanocomposite systems. The physicomechanical properties of the obtained materials have been investigated. It has been established that nanocomposites with a filler content of 4-8 mass % have the best complex of properties. Compared to pure (unfilled) polyethylene obtained under the same conditions, they are characterized by a higher value of the elastic modulus with the same level (which is particularly important) of tensile strength and specific elongation at rupture. A. V. Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis, Russian Academy of Sciences, 29 Leninskii Ave., Moscow, 119991; email: ivanyuk@ips.ac.ru. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 78, No. 5, pp. 87-92, September-October, 2005. Original article submitted October 13, 2004.