Figure 4.

Schematic view of the intercalation mechanism in four steps in water-assisted (WA) melt compounding of polyethylene (PE) with clay slurry in presence of surfactant (OTAC) and compatibilizer (PEMA) (1) injection of clay slurry into the molten PE at high pressure; (2) OTAC is diffusing into the finer clay slurry drop and enter into cation exchange reaction; parallel to that water starts to evaporate; (3) water evaporation yields finer clay drops; cation exchange proceeds and compatibilizer works for uniform dispersion of the clay; (4) after complete evaporation of water the intercalates clay stacks and exfoliated layers are stabilized by OTAC and compatibilizer PEMA, especially when the latter contain coreactive groups (with permission of BME-PT) [30].