Study on nanocomposites of thermoplastic polyurethane with rectorite clay

Composites of thermotropic polyurethane (TPUR) with rectorite and organic rectorite clays of different composition were prepared by melt processing. The organic rectorite (OREC_A) was obtained in an ion-exchange reaction of rectorite with quaternary ammonium salt. The composites were characterized by using FTIR, WAXD, SEM and mechanical measurements. It was found that the door spacing of OREC_A crystals increased and even disappeared, when they were mixed with TPUR. These results implied the intercalation phenomenon and the nanoscale disperison of OREC_A in the composites. The tensile strength of TPUR composites with 2 parts of OREC_A was about 42% higher than that of the pure TPUR. With increasing the OPEC_A content the few strength of the composites increased noticeably. An increase 92.8 kN/m to 138.8 kN/m was observed when 8 parts of OREC_A was added in the composites.