Abstract: The PP/OMMT nanocomposites were prepared via melt blending PP with organic modified montmorillonite (OMMT) which was prepared from cetrimonium bromide(CTAB), epoxy resin, isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), octadecylamine (ODI) as intercalation agents. FTIR and XRD were applied to study the structure of the modified montmorillonite (OMMT). The morphology of the nanocomposites (PP/OMMT) was characterized using TEM, and the mechanical properties were also studied. The space of the montmorillonite layers increased from 1.56nm to 4.28nm, and the OMMT layers were dispersed uniformly in the PP matrix. When the content of the OMMT was 5%, the tensile strength, the elongation at break, and the impact strength increased by 25.9%, 17.1% and 127.1% , respectively, based on neat PP. In addition, the crystallinity of PP was increased first and then decreased.

Key words: intercalation, organic montmorillonite, polypropylene, nanocomposites, modification