Preparation of Pillared Montmorillonite and Its Application in Silicone Rubber Composites

Abstract

Pillared montmorillonite (PMMT) was prepared from organic montmorillonite (OMMT) and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS). The orthogonal test was used to evaluate the best conditions to obtain the optimal PMMT with larger BET surface areas. The structure and properties of PMMT were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). In addition, the pillaring mechanism of this clay was proposed.

Novel room-temperature vulcanized silicone rubber (RTV)/PMMT composites were prepared. Properties such as viscosity, tensile strength, elongation at break, and thermal stability were researched and compared. The tensile strength of RTV/PMMT-3% was 21.7% higher than that of pure RTV, and the elongation at break of RTV/PMMT-1% also showed an enhancement. TGA tests showed that some improvement can be seen between 100°C and 680°C in RTV/PMMT-1% composites. A combination of XRD and SEM studies was used to characterize the structure and reinforcing mechanism of this PMMT.

Keywords:

• Orthogonal test
• Pillared montmorillonite
• Properties
• RTV
• Structure

Notes

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