Composite material and process for manufacturing same
AssigneeKabushiki Kaisha Toyota Chou Kenkyusho
InventorsAkane Okada, Yoshiaki Fukushima, Masaya Kawasumi, Shinji Inagaki, Arimitsu Usuki, Shigetoshi Sugiyama, Toshio Kurauchi, Osami Kamigaito
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Composite material with high mechanical strength and excellent high-temperature characteristics comprising a polymer matrix containing polyamide and layers of a silicate uniformly dispersed in the order of molecules in the polymer matrix, each of said silicate layers being 7 to 12 .ANG. thick and the interlayer distance being at least 20 .ANG.; and a process for manufacturing such composite material.
Claims27
Composite material with high mechanical strength and excellent high-temperature characteristics comprising a polymer matrix containing polyamide and a phyllosilicate uniformly dispersed in said polymer matrix, the phyllosilicate layers of said dispersed phyllosilicate being 7 to 12 .ANG. thick and the interlayer distances of said phyllosilicate layers in the dispersed phyllosilicate being at least 20 .ANG., and the amount of said phyllosilicate layers being 0.5 to 150 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of said polymer matrix.
A process for manufacturing composite material with high mechanical strength and excellent high-temperature characteristics comprising the steps of
- bringing a swelling agent into contact with a clay mineral having a cation-exchange capacity of 50 to 200 milliequivalent per 100 g of said clay mineral to form a complex capable of being swollen by a polyamide monomer at a temperature higher than the melting point of said monomer,
- mixing said complex with said polyamide monomer, and
- heating the mixture obtained in said mixing step to a prescribed temperature to effect polymerization.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.