Novel Poly(vinyl alcohol)/Clay Nanocomposite Microspheres via Suspension Polymerization and Saponification

Abstract

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/montmorillonite (MMT) clay nanocomposite microspheres were synthesized through suspension polymerization followed by the heterogeneous saponification for the first time. The effects of MMT on the saponification rate of poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) microspheres were studied. It was found that the saponification rate of PVAc significantly increased in the presence of MMT particles. The molecular weight of extracted PVA from the PVA/MMT was lower than that of pure PVA synthesized under similar conditions. TGA, TEM and XRD measurements illustrated that the clay platelets were intercalated in the polymer matrix.

Keywords:

• MMT
• Nanocomposite
• PVA
• Suspension polymerization

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported in part by grants from the Agenda Program (PJ0073852010) of National Institute of Crop Science, Rural Development Administration (RDA), Korea. Also, this research was partially supported by the Ministry of Education Science Technology (MEST) and Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) through the Human Resource Training Project for Regional Innovation.