The remarkable structural features of organic modified montmorillonite particles
(OMMT) enable them to complete their important role in enhancing different properties
of polyurethane copolymer with 75 wt.% hard segments (PUC/75). Based on the melt
intercalation approach, various amounts of OMMT were incorporated into PUC/75
solution followed by the injection moulding process. It is essential to mention that the
synthesized PUC/75 in this work relied on using 1,5-Pentanediol as a chain extender in
order to produce a long-term and thermal-stable PUC successfully. The effect of
incorporating various loading of OMMT on rheological properties of neat PUC/75 and its
nanocomposites was investigated. The structure of PUC/OMMT was studied using X-ray
diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy. Additionally, differential scanning
calorimetry (DSC) thermograms were utilized to investigate OMMT effect on the
thermal transitions and crystallinity of resultant PUC nanocomposites. Interestingly, the
dynamic rheological analysis exhibited a remarkable increase in melt rheology behaviour
with increasing OMMT loading compared to neat PUC/75. This could imply a good
interaction between the functional group on the surface of OMMT and PUC/75 domains;
particularly hard domains, herein the DSC results showed moderate improvement in
melt temperature (Tm) of PUC/OMMT nanocomposite.