Supercritical carbon dioxide as art exfoliating agent in the preparation of a layered silicate polymer nanocomposite

The present work studies the influence of a supercritical solvent (scCO2) on the interactions between a class of compatibilizers (maleated polypropylene) and organoclay. This is part of a series of studies intended to build understanding of the use of scCO2 as an exfoliating aid in the final production of TPO nanocomposite materials. The results presented in this paper are from our examination of a dialkyl ammonium modified montmorillonite and compatibilizers with different molecular weights. The work also compares the impact of pretreating the clay with scCO2 prior to being blended into a polymer. In addition, TPO nanocomposites were prepared in order to determine the effect of the matrix polymer on intercalation and exfoliation for a scCO2 saturated system.