In situ synthesis of polystyrene nanocomposites with layered double hydroxide with an unusual anion arrangement: Morphology and thermal and mechanical properties

Today, the steady advance of technology and society makes the development of materials with improved properties of paramount importance. In this article, we contribution to this area by presenting an in situ bulk synthesis of polystyrene (PS) nanocomposites with layered double hydroxide (LDH) as a reinforcement. The LDH that we adopted presented an unusual arrangement of anions and had ZnAl cations intercalated with laurate and palmitate anions. The nanocomposites were analyzed by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy to characterize their morphologies. The thermal properties, including the glass-transition temperature and thermal stability, were measured by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis, respectively. The mechanical properties and flexural fracture morphologies were also determined, with a bending test. The results demonstrate that the synthesized nanocomposites showed considerable improvements in their thermal stability and mechanical properties compared with the neat PS. (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 132, 42856.