Beall, GaryPeterson, Elizabeth Ann2020-08-072020-08-072005-05Peterson, E. A. (2005). Fundamental studies of clay surface treatments to facilitate exfoliation (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University-San Marcos, San Marcos, Texas.https://hdl.handle.net/10877/12327The field of nanocomposites technology is growing intensively, especially in the area of polymer/clay nanocomposites [1]. Nanocomposites are a two phase system in which one phase is dispersed in the second phase on a nanometer level [2], Current surface treatment methods have not been successful in completely exfoliating polymer/clay nanocomposites. This research developed a general method of surface and edge treatments in order to help exfoliate organoclay into a given polymer. Several general types of treatments were utilized. These included ion exchange, surface sorption of polymers, and silane edge treatment. Melt compounding of polymer and clay was conducted in a bowl mixer. Physical properties of each nanocomposite were tested by DMT A and tensile testing. X-ray diffraction was also used to determine the extent of the intercalation or exfoliation of polymer/clay nanocomposite.Text78 pages1 file (.pdf)enclay surfacessurface chemistrypolymersnanostructured materialsThesis