Synthesis and properties of polystyrene organoammonium montmorillonite hybrid

Styrene monomer was mixed with quaternary ammonium montmorillonites(org-MMTs) and polymerized in the presence of radical initiator. The resulting materials showed an expansion of interlayer distance. These hybrid materials exhibited higher thermal stability compared with the virgin polystyrene(PS) or PS/pristine-MMT microcomposite. PS/Bz-MMT, containing benzyl-unit similar to styrene in org-MMT, exhibited higher decomposition temperature even for MMT loading as low as 0.3wt.% compared with other PS/org-MMT hybrids. It was found that the structural affinity between styrene monomer and the organic group of org-MMT plays an important role in the structure and the properties of hybrid materials.