| abstract |
This invention relates to organic salt compositions useful in the preparation of organoclay compositions, polymer-organoclay composite compositions, and methods for the preparation of polymer nanocomposites. In one embodiment, the present invention provides novel organophosphonium salts having structure I wherein Ar1, Ar2, and Ar3 are independently C2-C50 aromatic radicals; Ar4 is a bond or a C2-C50 aromatic radical; ''a" is a number from 1 to about 200; "c" is a number from 0 to 3; R1 is independently at each occurrence a halogen atom, a C1-C20 aliphatic radical, a C5-C20 cycloaliphatic radical, or a C2-C20 aromatic radical; R2 is a halogen atom, a C1-C20 aliphatic radical, a C5-C20 cycloaliphatic radical, a C2-C50 aromatic radical, or a polymer chain; and X- is a charge balancing counterion. In another embodiment, the present invention provides methodologies for the preparation of organophosphonium salts having structure I. |