RSC Adv., 2016,6, 34288-34296

Hao Zhang, Jun Zhang, Rongping Yun, Zhiguo Jiang*, Haimei Liu* and Dongpeng Yan*.

The construction of high-performance polymer-clay nanocomposites plays an important role in developing new types of organic-inorganic hybrids. In this work, a series of polymer-clay nanocomposites were prepared based on polyurethane (PU) and chemical grafting of gamma-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APS) onto dodecyl sulfonate (DS) intercalated MgAl layered double hydroxide (APS-DS-LDH). The detailed morphology, damping properties,mechanical behavior, thermal stability as well as ultraviolet absorption ability of the PU/LDH nanocomposites were studied systematically. Results reveal that the addition of APS grafted DS/LDH nanoparticles can enhance the damping properties and the thermal decomposition temperature, compared with the pristine PU. A mechanical test shows that the flexibility of the nanocomposites is significantly improved by the incorporation of APS-DS-LDH, especially for the LDH content of 3%. Meanwhile, ultraviolet absorption intensity also increases by 33%. It is expected that the PU/APS-DS-LDH nanocomposites can be used as structural damping materials and elastomers in practical applications.