Acrylic Acid - Acrylamide Copolymer / Montmorillonite Nanocomposites

Based on pristine montmorillonite and three kinds of organophilic-modified montmorillionite, poly(acrylic acid-co-acrylamide)/Montmorillonite nanocomposites were synthesized by in-situ intercalation copolymerization.The influence of synthesizing methods upon copolymerization was studied.The effect of different kinds of and different contents of montmorillionite on the structure of nanocomposites was studied. The Fourier Transition Infrared (FTIR) analysis and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) characterization of nanocomposites suggest that the chains of copolymer have been successfully intercalated into the galleries of MMT and the intensities of peaks have become weakened. The peaks turned into dispersed peaks, which mean exfoliated nanocomposites. The d-spacing of MMT increases with the increase of the content of O-MMT-3. Comparatively speaking, the effect of intercalation is best when the content of O-MMT-3 is 6 wt%.The effects of the purification by acetone on the structure and on the thermo properties of nanocomposites were studied. The IR spectrum suggests the structure of the copolymer does not change with the purification by acetone whether through extraction or through washing directly. The XRD characterization shows that the d-spacing of montmorillionite decreases more with the extraction of samples than with the directly washing of samples.The effects of various compounding recipe on the absorbing ability of nanocomposite are discussed. The preferable compounding recipe for acquiring a better absorbing ability of nanocomposites is: AM/(AM+AA) mol%=30mol%, initiator-AIBN, the neutralizing degree of AA is 80mol%, the content of crosslinking agents is 0.02mol%, the content of MMT is 0.05wt%.The effects of various compounding recipe on the retention ability of water under high temperature of nanocomposite are discussed. The preferable compounding recipe for acquiring a better retention ability of nanocomposites is: AM/(AM+AA) mol%=30mol%, initiator-AIBN, the neutralizing degree of AA is 65mol%, the content of crosslinking agents is 0.02mol%, the content of MMT is 8wt%.The scale inhibition performance and the viscosity of nanocomposites are determined. It was found that the scale inhibition performance of nanocomposite showed a decline when it was compared to pure copolymer. The poly(AA-co-AM)/MMT gel system belongs to non-Newton fluid system. Its flowing agrees with the law of the flowing of pseudoplastic fluid.