Synthesis and characterization of epoxy resin-montmorillonite nanocomposites obtained by frontal polymerization

Frontal polymerization, a method that allows to convert a monomer into a polymer exploiting the exothermicity of the self-same polymerization reaction, has been conveniently used for the easy and fast preparation of epoxy resin-montmorillonite nanocomposites. The obtained materials have shown characteristics similar or even better than those prepared by the conventional polymerization routes. The synthetic methods and the thorough characterization of the obtained nanocomposites are described. (C) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.