Synthesis and Characterization of Siloxane-Modified Polyurethane Dispersion/Clay Nanocomposites

Polyurethane dispersion modified with polymethylsiloxane (Si-PUD) and its nanocomposites incorporated with clays (Cloisite 15A and 30B at 3 and 6 wt%) were synthesized and characterized in this work. FTIR analysis showed that Si-PUD and Si-PUD/clay nanocomposites were successfully manufactured. While the glass transition temperature was not affected by the modification of the siloxane and clays, thermal resistance from TGA and mechanical properties such as tensile strength and elongation at break from UTM were largely enhanced at 3 wt% of both C15A and C30B clay. Higher content of 6 wt% of C30B has inferior to other Si-PUD samples containing clay in mechanical properties. Surface with higher hydrophobicity was observed for Si-PUD and Si-PUD/clay nanocomposites compared to PUD.