Preparation of exfoliated polyacrylic clay nanocomposites with high loading: An investigation into the intercalation of ammonium-terminated polyacrylic acid and polyacrylates Part B Polymer physics

Low-molecular-weight polyacrylic acid with amine chain end used as a macromolecular intercalating agent was synthesized by radical polymerization using 2-aminoethanethiol hydrochloride as chain transfer agent. Three polyacrylates (sodium polyacrylate-t-NH₃ ⁺, calcium polyacrylate-t-NH₃ ⁺, and zinc polyacrylate-t-NH₃ ⁺) were prepared by neutralization from this polyacrylic acid using sodium hydroxide, zinc oxide, and calcium hydroxide as alkalies. The intercalation of ammonium-terminated polyacrylic acid and polyacrylate was investigated by viscosity measurement, XRD, and TEM. Using this ammonium-terminated polyacrylic acid as the intercalating agent, exfoliated polyacrylic acid/clay and polyacrylate/clay composites with a clay loading of ~30 and 20 wt %, respectively, were prepared through the evaporation of solvent from their clay suspensions. The thermal degradation of polyacrylic acid/clay and polyacrylate/clay composites was also studied by TGA.