Films formed from polystyrene latex/clay composites: A fluorescence study

Abstract

This study reports a steady-state fluorescence (SSF) technique for studying film formation from surractant-free polystyrene (PS) latex and Na-montmorillonite (SNaM) composites. The composite films were prepared from pyrene (P)-labeled PS particles and SNaM clay at room temperature and annealed at elevated temperatures in 10-min intervals above glass transition temperature (T-g) of polystyrene. During the annealing processes, the transparency of the fllm improved considerably. Scattered light (I-s) and fluorescence intensity (I-s) from P were measured after each annealing step to monitor the stages of film formation. Evolution of transparency of composite films was monitored by using photon transmission intensity, I-tr Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to detect the variation in physical structure of annealed composite-films. Minimum flIm formation temperature, T-o, and healing temperatures, T-h, were determined. Void closure and interdiff-usion stages were modeled and related activation energies were determined. It was observed that both activation energies increased as the percent of SNaM was increased in composite films.