| Abstract: | The processing of nanocomposite materials composed of amine‐cured diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) reinforced with organomontmorillonite clay is reported. A novel sample preparation scheme was used to process the modified clay in the glassy epoxy network, resulting in nanocomposites where the clay was both exfoliated and intercalated by the epoxy network. The processing scheme involves sonication of the constituent materials in a solvent, followed by solvent extraction to generate a composite with homogeneous dispersions of the nanoclay. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Fourier transform (FT‐)Raman spectroscopy confirmed that the chemical structure of the epoxy network was not affected by the use of solvents in this processing scheme. The glass‐transition temperature, Tg, linearly increased with an increased weight ratio of the nanoclay. The microstructure of clay nanoplatelets in the composites was observed with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), wide‐angle X‐ray scattering (WAXS), and small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS). It was found that the clay nanoplatelets were well‐dispersed, and were intercalated as well as exfoliated. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 4384–4390, 2004 |
