ABSTRACT
Abstract ................................................................................................. 274 9.1 Introduction .................................................................................. 274 9.2 Clay Structure and Classification ................................................ 275 9.3 PVA-Clay Nanocomposites ......................................................... 279 9.4 Conclusions .................................................................................. 289 Keywords .............................................................................................. 291 References ............................................................................................. 291
SIMONA MORARIU*, MIRELA TEODORESCU, and MARIA BERCEA
Department of Electroactive Polymers and Plasmochemistry, “Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, 41A Grigore Ghica Voda Alley, 700487 Iasi, Romania
*Corresponding author. E-mail: smorariu@icmpp.ro
ABSTRACT
Clays have been used since the dawn of history for medicinal purposes. During the last decades, a particular interest has been shown by researchers on development of new materials containing clay minerals with promising properties, high availability, and low cost. Because of their unique layered structure, the clays have the capacity to interact with different nonionic/ ionic polymers leading to high-performance nanocomposites for targeted applications. The main clays used for preparing of hybrid nanocomposites belong to the following classes: layered silicates (such as montmorillonite, laponite, and halloysite), chain silicates (sepiolite), and layered double hydroxide. One of the most used polymers in combination with various clays is poly(vinyl alcohol), resulting materials which cumulate the good mechanical, thermal, and gas barrier properties of the inorganic compound with the nontoxicity, noncarcinogenicity, biocompatibility, and biodegradability of poly(vinyl alcohol). Thus, by this work, we tried to offer an accurate overview on various poly(vinyl alcohol)/clay nanocomposites, their obtaining methods, properties, and applications.
