Synthesis of polyurethane/clay intercalated nanocomposites

A kind of polyurethane/organophilic montmorillonite (PU/OMT) nanocomposite based on polyether, OMT, phenylmethane diisocyante and diglycol was synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM). A polyether/OMT hybrid was first prepared in a nanocomposite form as confirmed by XRD. It was shown that there is a multilayered structure consisting of alternating PU chains stacked with the layers of the silicate layers in the microstructure of the PU/OMT nanocomposite as confirmed by study of the XRD patterns and the HREM images. The contents of the hard segment of PU and OMT had an effect on the basal spacing of the PU/OMT nanocomposite.