Preparation and characterization of biodegradable PLA/organosilylated clay nanocomposites

In this work a new organosilylated clay was successfully synthesized by functionalization of a natural sodium montmorillonite (MMT) by (3-glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane (GOPTMS). This organosilylated clay was used as nanofiller for preparation, by solvent casting, of poly(lactic acid) nanocomposite systems. Similar systems, containing as nanofiller the commercial Cloisite 30B (i.e. a natural sodium montmorillonite organically modified with alkylammonium salt), were also prepared for comparison. All the obtained nanocomposite films were characterized using several techniques (XRD, permeability and mechanical tensile tests). Obtained results pointed out that nanocomposite system containing the organosilylated clay showed a better intercalation of the polymer chains into the clay layers and a higher improvement of the oxygen barrier properties, when compared to both the neat PLA film and the PLA film loaded with Cloisite 30B.