Novel Poly(vinyl alcohol)/Clay Nanocomposite Film Prepared by the Heterogeneous Saponification of Poly(vinyl acetate)/Clay Nanocomposite Film

Abstract

A novel PVA/clay (MMT) film is prepared for the first time based on the saponification of the PVAc/MMT film in the presence of heterogeneous conditions. With the help of optical microscopy, the characteristics and surface morphology of the saponified PVA/MMT film is confirmed. It is found to contain black MMT nanoparticles in PVAc films as the content of MMT increased. According to atomic force microscopy results, PVAc/MMT films shows unexpected surface roughness owing to the slow progress of the saponification reaction in the presence of MMT contents in the PVAc matrix. The thermal stability of the PVA/MMT film is measured using thermal gravimetric analyses. The results indicate that thermal stability increases significantly when the MMT concentration increases. The entire structure of the PVA/MMT nanocomposite has been elucidated using XRD. To prove the differences between the PVAc/MMT and the PVA/MMT films, XRD measurements and Fourier transform Infrared spectroscopy analyses are utilized.