Characterization of poly(methyl methacrylate) from radiation‐induced polymerization in the presence of a kaolin clay substrate

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Abstract
Two types of polymer are formed in the radiation‐initiated polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA)–kaolin clay complexes. Homopolymer can be extracted from the complex by the use of organic solvents. Inserted polymer must be removed by dissolution of the polymer–clay complex with hydrofluoric acid. The polymers formed show no differences in structure (as determined by infrared analysis), had high molecular weights (1–5 × 106), and had similar molecular weight distributions (as determined by GPC). The molecular weights of the homopolymer increased as temperature increased (25°–75°C), and dose rate decreased (24.9–7.35 rads/sec). The isotacticity of the polymers when compared to irradiated bulk polymer decreased as follows: inserted > homo > bulk. The compressive properties of the irradiated composite compared well with those of commercial bulk polymers. Degradation temperatures were 20° to 30°C higher for the composite than for the commercial chemically initiated bulk polymer.

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