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Evolution of Clay Morphology in Polypropylene/Montmorillonite Nanocomposites upon Equibiaxial Stretching: A Solid-State NMR and TEM Approach

Dispersion of nanoclays in polymers and an understanding of parameters that control dispersion remains a major hurdle to full exploitation of such materials. We reported the use of solid-state NMR combined with TEM in an integrated manner to yield quantitative data on clay exfoliation. The technique makes use of the small quantities of paramagnetic Fe3+ impurities in naturally occurring clays which have no effect on composite properties, but a massive effect on NMR relaxation characteristics, providing a method to assess nanoclay dispersion in polymers. It has been adopted by other researchers (such as S. Borsacchi, University of Pisa, silvi@ns.dcci.unipi.it).