Controlled Morphology of Nanoclay within Nanopolymer Particles via Miniemulsion Polymerization

Controlled morphology of nanoclay layers within nanopolymer particles is a very important topic for most industries، especially in food and medical packaging. Films prepared from these nanocomposites showed improved physical and mechanical properties and high impermeability towards gases، vapors، water and even oils and hydrocarbons. One successful method to design these systems is by miniemulsion polymerization which is useful for encapsulation of all materials (solids، liquids and gases) within polymer particles، provided a suitable choice of surfactant is made with optimum HLB. Another method is «pickering» or soap free polymerization، which can also be performed in the form of miniemulsion. In this new method nanoclay is used instead of a surfactant، and therefore، final films will show honeycomb structures applicable in impermeable packaging purposes.