## 3 Results
### TGA-DTG Analysis of Modified Mt  
To gain more insight into the modification process, we investigated the thermal stability of the modified samples, as shown in Figure 6, and the associated results are listed in Table 3. The overall mass loss of the modified Mt was greater than that of the Mt. The following two mass loss stages were obtained for the Mt, as shown in Figure 6a: A mass loss of 1.9 wt.% occurred at temperatures below 200 \({}^{\circ}\)C, due to the desorption of the physically adsorbed water. The major mass loss at 662 \({}^{\circ}\)C was attributed to the dehydroxylation of the available aluminosilicate groups in the clay layers, and the total mass loss of the Mt was approximately 5.6 wt.%. The Mt was very stable at temperatures of 200-600 \({}^{\circ}\)C, which is consistent with previous reports [39]. Similarly, the mass loss of water desorption was observed in the H-Mt, with a significant increase compared with the Mt, indicating the greater hydrophilicity characteristics of the Mt after acid treatment. Beyond the dehydration step, the DTG curves of the H-Mt exhibited one mass loss peak that was related to the dehydroxylation of the OH groups at 602 \({}^{\circ}\)C. The mass loss in the H-Mt, below 200 \({}^{\circ}\)C, was 4.2 wt.%, and the total mass loss was approximately 8.3 wt.%. However, the P-Mt had a lower mass loss below 200 \({}^{\circ}\)C, and a higher mass loss (19.0 wt.%) in the range of 200-600 \({}^{\circ}\)C, due to the degradation of the surfactants confined in the interlayer spacing, indicating that the Mt that was intercalated by the TTPC surfactants was much less hydrophilic, which was obviously in favor of the better compatibility with the monomers during the polymerization. Furthermore, the P-Mt had two mass loss peaks that were related to the surfactant decomposition. The fraction of the surfactant that was decomposed at 384 \({}^{\circ}\)C was mainly attributed to the surfactants adsorbed by van der Waals forces, and another fraction that had decomposed at 474 \({}^{\circ}\)C was associated with the molecules intercalated by ion exchange and adhered by electrostatic interactions [40]. Otherwise, the dehydroxylation mass loss of the layer crystal lattice was substantially lowered for the P-Mt, confirming that the intercalation of the surfactant had truly been achieved. For the Si-Mt, the mass loss (1.4 wt.%) below 200 \({}^{\circ}\)C was due to the removal of the physically adsorbed water and methanol solvent. The Si-Mt displayed a peak at 263 \({}^{\circ}\)C, which was attributed to the loss of silanes bonded at the broken edges and/or adsorbed on the external surfaces. The peaks at approximately 428 \({}^{\circ}\)C and 546 \({}^{\circ}\)C were related to the decomposition of the intercalated and chemically grafted silane molecules, respectively [41]. The mass loss of the Si-Mt, in the temperature range of 200-600 \({}^{\circ}\)C, was 3.2 wt.%, which was 1.8 wt.% larger than that of Mt, indicating the successful silylation for the Mt layers. However, there was no large increase in the basal spacing after the silylation from the XRD results, which further indicated that the silane was mainly adsorbed and grafted onto the external surfaces and the broken edges. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Sample**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Temperature Range**} \\ \cline{2-3}  & **\textless{}200 \({}^{\circ}\)C** & **200–600 \({}^{\circ}\)C** & **30–800 \({}^{\circ}\)C** \\ \hline Mt & 1.9 & 1.4 & 5.6 \\ H-Mt & 4.2 & 2.8 & 8.3 \\ P-Mt & 0.6 & 19.0 & 20.7 \\ Si-Mt & 1.4 & 3.2 & 6.8 \\ H-P-Mt & 0.2 & 18.8 & 19.6 \\ H-Si-Mt & 5.0 & 11.4 & 17.2 \\ P-Si-Mt & 2.4 & 18.5 & 21.9 \\ Si-P-Mt & 0.9 & 18.1 & 19.9 \\ H-Si-P-Mt & 1.5 & 17.2 & 19.4 \\ H-P-Si-Mt & 0.8 & 16.9 & 18.6 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: Relative mass loss during decomposition of Mt and modified Mt samples (wt.%).