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Polypropylene (PP) is a highly non-polar polymer. Where as the clay is a polar material. Hence generally we get poor dispersion out of it. In this work, effort has been taken to improve the dispersion of clay in to polypropylene matrix. Clay was modified with Poly (oxypropylene) ammonium chloride. Composites were prepared by melt blending method in a twin screw extruder. Three different ratios namely 1.5, 3.0, and 4.5 weight % loadings of clay were adopted to prepare these composites by this technique. Their structures were characterized by FTIR, x-ray diffraction (XRD). Notable change in the crystallization and melting temperatures were observed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The distribution of clay in the matrix was also studied through optical microscope (OM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The effect of clay modification on the performance of the composites was studied.

Polymers have entropy nearly zero which cause mixing of different polymers or with the fillers become very difficult. There is generally a third component necessary which is called surfactant to enhance the miscibility. The surfactant reduces interfacial tension and improves the interfacial adhesion. In this work, tailored polymeric surfactant is designed and utilized for dispersing the clay in nano scale in to the polymer matrix Polypropylene (PP). These were prepared directly from Na+ Bentonite by reactive processing in which melt intercalation technique was carried. They are Polypropylene-g-acrylic amido Poly(oxypropylene) ammonium chloride (POPA). This ammonium salt was prepared from diamine and Polypropylene-g-acrylic acid by the formation of amido amine and sequentially neutralized it with the hydrochloric acid solution. The amido amine formation was verified by the FTIR technique. Clay loading was kept at 5 weight % by this new technique. Their structures were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XR...