Preparation, Characterization and Infrared Emissivity Study of Attapulgite@helical Polyurethane Composites

Attapulgite@helical polyurethane composites (ATT@HPU and ATT@PU) were prepared after the surface modification of the attapulgite nano-fibrillar clay (ATT). ATT@HPU and ATT@PU were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results indicate that the helical polyurethane has been successfully grafted onto the surfaces of the modified ATT without destroying the original crystalline structure of ATT. The rod-like fibrous nanoparticles were confirmed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HTEM). The infrared emissivity of ATT@HPU and ATT@PU was also investigated. The results indicate that the singlehanded helical conformation is favored to the reduction of infrared emissivity due to the more regular structure and ordered stereo structures.