Polymer Engineering and Science, Vol.46, No.8, 1031-1039, 2006
An infrared method to assess organoclay delamnination and orientation in organoclay polymer nanocomposites
Assessing the degree of organoclay delamination and layer alignment is crucial to deliver consistent properties of nanocomposite materials. A simple infrared technique is discussed that permits quantitative determination of these organoclay dispersion parameters in a nanocomposite. This technique complements other existing methods to optimize process conditions to fully achieve the advantages that high purity hectorite nanoclays can bring to plastic nanocomposites.