Chiral bio-nanoclays: Synthesis and applications

Inorganic materials such as clay minerals, carbon black and silica are very important reinforcement additives for polymres. Montmorrillonite (MMT) is formed from volcanic ash and is found in great abundance in many soil on Earth. MMT, the most common clay mineral consisting of nanoparticles suitable for nanocomposite production, is comprised of silicate layers having a planar structure of 1 nm thickness and up to 500 nm length. MMT is hydrophilic and in order to make it hydrophobic it could be modified with organic cations via ion exchange technique. This process will convert it to organo-clay which can be effective reinforcing agents in the preparation of polymer-clay nanocomposites [1].