Effect of triisobutyl (methyl) phosphonium ion modified montmorillonite to the tensile properties of poly(methyl methacrylate) composites

Sodium montmorillonite (na+-mmt) is one of the natural clays used worldwide in producing polymer nanocomposite. commercially available modified-mmts which are based on alkyl ammonium modified na+-mmt is not thermally stable above 200°c. considering its high thermal degradation temperature,triisobutyl (methyl) phosphonium (tbmp) surfactant was used in this research as an organic modifier in the modification of na+-mmt via an ion exchange process forming organo montmorillonite of tbmp-mmt. the tbmp-mmt was then used as a filler in poly(methyl methacrylate) (pmma) via melt intercalation technique which required high processing temperature. the successful modification of na+-mmt to tbmp-mmt was assessed by x-ray diffractometer (xrd),fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (ftir),thermogravimetric (tga) and elemental analyzers. the pmma chain was successfully intercalated into tbmp-mmt galleries as confirmed by xrd analysis. the tbmp-mmt loading was significantly improved the tensile strength and young's modulus of pmma composites. © 2017 penerbit umt.