Macromolecule/laponite nanomaterials were
studied by DSC and X-ray diffraction techniques. The matrices are poly(ethylene)
glycols at various molecular masses and poly(ethylene oxides)-poly(propylene
oxides)-poly(ethylene oxides) tri-block copolymers. The latter were tuned
by modulating the molecular masses, at constant hydrophilic/hydrophobic ratio,
and the hydrophilicity. For all the investigated systems, the enthalpy of
melting (Δ
H
m)
is nearly constant up to a given composition thereafter it increases monotonically
reaching the value of the pure macromolecule. We proposed a model to interpret
the DSC data.
Briefly, it was invoked a mechanism of interaction
following which some segments of the adsorbed macromolecule are anchored to
the laponite (RD) particles and the remaining segments are radiating away
from the surface. The portion of the macromolecule in contact with RD does
not contribute to ΔH
m
whereas that radiating away from the clay does. Once that the RD surface is
saturated, the excess of the macromolecule behaves like the pure one. The
proposed model allowed to compute successfully the ΔH
m
values. The X-ray diffraction experiments ruled out the polymer intercalation
between the silicate sheets.
Keywords dispersion in polymer matrices - DSC - laponite - poly(ethylene)glycols - poly(ethylene oxide)poly(propylene oxide)poly(ethylene oxide) - X-ray diffraction