Abstract

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and nanocomposites PMMA/nano-clay were widely applied in many different fields. Bone cement is one of the important application which makes artificial bones and joints. The purpose of our study is the improvement of properties of PMMA. Therefore, organo-clay modified by polyethylene oxide (PEO) was used to reinforce the PMMA resin. In order to increase the interaction between PMMA and organo-clay, the in-situ emulsion polymerization has been used to synthesize nanocomposites. Accordingly, nanocomposites with the weight percentage of organo-clay of 1 %, 3 %, 5 %, 7 % increase the thermal and mechanical properties compared to PMMA. These were evidence of the good interaction between PMMA and organo-clay. In addition, PMMA/5 % MMT-PEO nanocomposite is also synthesized by in-situ Pickering emulsion polymerization [3] to compare with the method of emulsion polymerization.