Study of Polyamide66/Bentonite Clay Hybrid Membranes Obtained by Solution

Abstract

The development of nanocomposites polymer matrix with clay from Brazil has been naturally abundant and low cost alternative. In this study, we obtained nanocomposites polyamide66 (PA66) with 1% and 5% of bentonite clay from Brazil, to be used as microporous organic/inorganic hybrid membranes. The clay was treated with a quaternary ammonium salt in order to make it organophilic. The membranes in the form of thin films were prepared using the technique of immersion-precipitation of solution from the nanocomposites. Treated clay and untreated clay were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Thermogravimetry (TG). The membranes were characterized by TG and XRD. The result of XRD showed the presence of quaternary ammonium salt in the structure of clay, after organophilization. For TG, we observed that the treated clay showed higher thermal stability when compared to untreated clay. For TG, we observed that in general the membranes of PA66 with treated clay, present decomposition temperature higher when compared with untreated clay, thus revealing a greater thermal stability of membranes PA66 with treated clay. Through the X-rays patterns, it was found that membranes with 1% of nanoclay present exfoliated structure and can therefore be applied as microporous membranes.