THE APPLICATION OF TAPANULI CLAY AS NANOFILLER IN NANOCOMPOSITES: SYNTHESIS AND THEIR CHARACTERIZATION
Organo layered silicates (OLS) were successfully synthesized from Tapanuli clay through an intercalated ultrasonic method using hexadecyltrimethylamonium bromide ( HDTMABr ) as a cation exchange agent. Tapanuli clay–epoxy nanocomposites were also successfully synthesized with an in-situ polymerization. X-Ray Diffraction and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) results demonstrated a pattern of clay morphology typically found in nanocomposite systems. Although the nanocomposites' diffractogram showed an exfoliation structure, the TEM findings confirmed that the OLS d -spacing is between 2.58 nm (the minimum value) up to 14.74 nm (the maximum value); which indicates the nanocomposites posses a mixed structure between intercalated and exfoliated structures. It was found that the presence of 1wt% Tapanuli organo clay in the epoxy systems provides higher stiffness and higher Heat Deflection Temperature by 30 % and 7 % respectively.