Patent ID: 8198355

Claim:
A nanocomposite composition, consisting essentially of: a) at least one thermoplastic polyamide wherein the at least one polyamide is an aliphatic polyamide or a semiaromatic polyamide, wherein i) the aliphatic polyamide is selected from the group consisting of polytetramethylene adipamide, polyhexamethylene adipamide, polyhexamethylene azelaamide, polyhexamethylene sebacamide, polyhexamethylene dodecanoamide, bis(para-aminocyclohexyl) methane dodecanoamide, polycaprolactam, poly-11-amino-undecanoic acid, a copolymer of two of the above polymers or their components, and a terpolymer of three of the above polymers or their components, and ii) the semiaromatic polyamide is selected from the group consisting of: poly(m-xylylene adipamide) hexamethylene adipamide/hexamethylene terephthalamide copolyamide; hexamethylene terephthalamide/2-methylpentamethylene terephthalamide copolyamide; poly(dodecamethylene terephthalamide); poly(decamethylene terephthalamide); decamethylene terephthalamide/decamethylene dodecanoamide copolyamide; poly(nonamethylene terephthalamide); the polyamide of hexamethylene isophthalamide and hexamethylene adipamide; the polyamide of hexamethylene terephthalamide, hexamethylene isophthalamide, and hexamethylene adipamide; copolymers of the above semiaromatic polyamides; or combinations of any of these; b) unmodified sepiolite nanoparticles, unmodified attapulgite nanoparticles, or a mixture of unmodified attapulgite nanoparticles and unmodified sepiolite nanoparticles, wherein the width and thickness of a particle are each less than 50 nm; and optionally further comprising: c) a polymeric toughening agent; d) a reinforcing agent; or e) a combination of (c) and (d).