Crystallinity, ion conductivity, and thermal and mechanical properties of poly(ethylene oxide)–illite nanocomposites with exfoliated illite as a filler

Abstract

Illite particles were exfoliated by the intercalation and subsequent deintercalation of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in the interlayer of illite, and the exfoliated illite particles were used to prepare a novel poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)–illite nanocomposite. The resulting exfoliated illite and PEO–illite nanocomposites were characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry, ion conductivity testing, thermogravimetry analysis, and mechanical testing. The XRD results showed that the acid treatment of illite to exchange K+ in the interlayer of illite with H+ was a necessary condition for the DMSO intercalation. SEM micrographs confirmed the exfoliation of the illite particles in the process of DMSO deintercalation from the interlayer of the illite–DMSO intercalation complex. A good dispersion of exfoliated illite in the PEO matrix was also confirmed. A gradual decrease in the PEO crystallinity in the PEO–illite nanocomposites was observed with increasing exfoliated illite concentration. The ion conductivity of the nanocomposites gradually increased with the filler content and reached 3.21 × 10−5 S/cm at an illite concentration of 20 wt %. The formation of an amorphous region around the exfoliated illite was beneficial for Li+‐ion conduction. The ion conductivity significantly increased when the amorphous regions were connected to each other to form a conducting path for Li+ ions with a high filler concentration of greater than 10 wt %. Meanwhile, the thermooxidative stability and mechanical properties of the PEO–illite nanocomposites were also enhanced when exfoliated illite was introduced into the polymer matrix. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 44226.

An application‐oriented roadmap to select polymeric nanocomposites for advanced applications: A review

“…The higher aspect ratios enhance the mechanical properties and the thermal stability of the polymer matrixes. Nevertheless, illite has been far less explored as reinforcement agent in polymer nanocomposites compared to the other nanoclays . The interest in using the nanoclay alternatives has been due to the environmental impact of petroleum‐based superabsorbent.…”

“…From the illitization of smectite, a mixed layer clay, that is, illite/smectite, has been developed for superabsorbent hydrogels, which can be of great interest in agriculture, hygiene products, drug delivery, wastewater treatment, and so on . Their polyethylene oxide (PEO)‐based composites can be used to construct solid polymer electrolytes for rechargeable polymer‐lithium batteries . More examples of applications and properties are listed in Table .…”

“…Nevertheless, illite has been far less explored as reinforcement agent in polymer nanocomposites compared to the other nanoclays. [70] The interest in using the nanoclay alternatives has been due to the environmental impact of petroleum-based superabsorbent. From the illitization of smectite, a mixed layer clay, that is, illite/smectite, has been developed for superabsorbent hydrogels, which can be of great interest in agriculture, hygiene products, drug delivery, wastewater treatment, and so on.…”

“…polymer electrolytes for rechargeable polymer-lithium batteries. [70] More examples of applications and properties are listed in Table 3.…”

Interactions between smectites and polyelectrolytes

“…Recently, this interaction is increasingly used for making hierarchical materials, tissue engineering materials, biosensors and drug carriers. For example, halloysite-polyelectrolytes interactions and illite-polyelectrolytes interactions has been intensively used for making biomedical composites (Zhao et al, 2015;Zhen et al, 2016;Tarasova et al, 2019). In the present paper, the interactions between smectites (montmorillonite, saponite, and hectorite) and polyelectrolytes (cationic, anionic, and amphoteric) are overviewed.…”