Organic modification of synthesized clay-magadiite

A synthesized magadiite has been organically modified by n-hexadecyl trimethyl-ammonium bromide (CTAB), and then grafted by gamma-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTS). The formation of the CTAB-magadite was confirmed by XRD, which the basal spacing increases from 1.54 to 2.46 mn. The formation of the organic derivatives of magadiite was confirmed by XRD, FTIR, and Si-29 CP-MAS NMR spectra. A silylating reagent of APTS was reacted to the CTAB exchanged magadiite. The copolymerization of the APTS modified magadiite presents a new layered silicate-organic compound. In this compound, a covalently bond formed between the interlayer spaces. It is dissimilar to the conventional claypolymer systems in which the ionic interactions between silicates and organic modifiers are dominant. (CD 2006 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved. The construction of organic-inorganic nanocomposites has attracted considerable attention in materials chemistry. Composite materials are typically formed when at least two distinctly dissimilar materials are mixed to form a monolith. The overall properties of a composite material are determined not only by the properties of the parent components but also by the morphology, volume fractions, and connectivity of the phases as well as the interfacial properties [1,2]. Host-gust composites based on the intercalation of guest molecules into inorganic layered hosts represent a new class of premier functional materials such as catalyst and molecular sieving properties, which possess unique chemical and physical characteristics [3-9]. The intercalation of the inorganic layered hosts can be used to facilitate exfoliation of the inorganic nanolayers into a polymer network, which maximizes the interfacial contact between the organic and inorganic phases. The exfoliated nanocomposites show a better phase homogeneity than the intercalated nanocomposites, and effectively improve the performances of clay composite materials [2,10].