Effect of Organically Modified Montmorillonite on Thermal Degradation Mechanism of Polycarbonate Nanocomposites

By studying previous reported papers, there were contradictory results about the effect of clay on thermal stability of polycarbonate (PC). For ascertainment of the actual role of clay, PC nanocomposites were prepared by direct melt-mixing PC with hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium chloride modified montmorillonite (OMT). The results of XRD, TEM and HREM experiments present the formation of uniformly intercalated structure. TGA shows the onset decomposition temperature of PC/OMT nanocomposites is earlier 65 °C than pure PC. The mechanism of PC thermal decomposition effected by OMT was discussed in detail. It reveals that OMT can catalyze thermal degradation of PC chains and decrease thermal stability of the nanocomposites.