2.1. Materials
The poly(ethylene terephthalate) used in this study had an intrinsic
viscosity of 0.96 dl/g and was suitable for tire-cord applications.
Surface-modified montmorill on itenanoclay Cloisite20Awas obtained
from Southern Clay Products Inc (Gonzalez, TX) and used without
further modification. The surface-modified clays are produced
commercially by the substitution of interlayer sodium cations by
dimethyl, bis(hydrogenated-tallow)quaternary ammoniumcations.