Preparation of photopolymerized nanocomposites through intercalating multifunctional acrylated siloxane into montmorillonite

• MMT was modified with a trifunctional acrylated siloxane.
• Just 0.5 wt.% photoinitiators were used in this formulation.
• Photo-DSC and DMA analyses confirmed the high photopolymerization rate and excellent compatibility.

The multifunctional acrylate-intercalated montmorillonite (TA-Mt) was prepared by intercalating the cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB)-modified Mt (CTAB-Mt) with a trifunctional acrylated siloxane (TAS). The TA-Mt was further formulated with epoxy acrylate and 1,1,1-propanetrimethanol tris(3-mercaptopropionate) (PTTM) in an equimolar ratio of thiol group to acrylate double bond, and a trace amount of 0.5 wt.% photoinitiator. This formulation was then exposed to UV light to form the polymer/Mt nanocomposites through the thiol-ene click reaction. The FT-IR, XRD, and TGA analysis confirmed the successful grafting of TAS to the Mt interlayers. The TEM and HR-TEM micrographs together with further XRD measurement indicated that the UV-cured nanocomposites possess an intercalated structure. The TGA and DMA analyses demonstrated the better thermal stability and excellent compatibility. The Tg increased with the TA-Mt content increasing in the nanocomposites.