Considerable research has been conducted in improving the performance characteristics of nanocomposites, however, relatively few attempts have been made to address the thermal stability of nanocomposites. An attempt is being made to improve the thermal properties of nanocomposites by synthesizing imidazolium salts from 2-methyl imidazole and ion exchanging the salts with clay minerals. This study focuses on the role of the chemistry of imidazolium salt(s) used in functionalizing clay and processing conditions in the formulation of epoxy nanocomposites. The nanodispersion of clay in an epoxy matrix is evaluated qualitatively by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electronic microscopy (TEM), and laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM). We demonstrate the use of LCSM for quantitative image analysis and to study the dispersion of clay layers, tagged with a fluorescent dye in the epoxy matrix. XRD and TEM results reveal that the hand mixed nanocomposite has tactoid morphology, while ultrasonicated organoclay (without hydroxyl group) epoxy nanocomposite exhibits a mixed morphology, and an ultrasonicated organoclay (with hydroxyl group) epoxy nanocomposite had well dispersed clay distribution in the epoxy matrix. Results from the three complimentary techniques enable the characterization of the clay platelets over several length scales ranging from the micrometer to the nanometer scale. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.