Vol.:(0123456789) Polymer Bulletin https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-020-03281-6 1 3 ORIGINAL PAPER Synthesis of montmorillonite/modifed graphene oxide fller and its efect on the properties of PP composites Cynthia Guerrero‑Bermea 1  · Sofa Vazquez‑Rodriguez 2  · Saúl Sánchez‑Valdes 3  · Jorge Alonso Uribe‑Calderon 1 Received: 21 November 2019 / Revised: 10 March 2020 / Accepted: 17 June 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract This work reports the easy production of hybrid organoclays composed of Cloisite 20A and modifed graphene oxide (r-mGO) at diferent proportions, and their efect on PP composites properties. In this way, it is proposed to evaluate both, the efect of the amount of r-mGO in the hybrid organoclay, and the efect of the amount of the hybrid organoclay on the PP composites. Morphological and structural details of PP composites were followed by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray difrac- tion, respectively. The thermal stability of the composites was analyzed by thermo- gravimetric analysis and diferential scanning calorimetry, tensile mechanical prop- erties were also tested. The results show that the obtained laminated hybrid material exhibited homogeneous intercalation of Cloisite 20A and r-mGO. The interactions among the clay intercalant molecules and graphene oxide grafting makes them remain united even in a polymeric matrix, acting as a good reinforcer and resulting in a rigid polymeric composite with improved mechanical properties at low content of the fller, mainly when having small amounts of r-mGO. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s0028 9-020-03281-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Jorge Alonso Uribe-Calderon jorge.uribe@cicy.mx 1 Centro de Investigación Científca de Yucatán, A.C., Unidad de Materiales, Calle 43 No. 130 x 32 y 34 Col. Chuburná de Hidalgo, CP 97205 Mérida, Yucatán, México 2 Facultad de Ingeniería Mecánica y Eléctrica (FIME-UANL), Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Pedro de Alba s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, CP 66455 San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, México 3 Centro de Investigación en Química Aplicada, Blvd. Enrique Reyna H. No. 140, San José de los Cerritos, 25294 Saltillo, Coahuila, México