KR100811303B1 - Abs/clay nanocomposite having high falling dart impact strength - Google Patents

Abstract

An ABS/clay nanocomposite material, an interior or exterior material for automobiles or electric home appliances using the nanocomposite material, and a method for preparing the nanocomposite material are provided to improve falling impact resistance without the deterioration of heat resistance. An ABS/clay nanocomposite material comprises 5-50 wt% of an aromatic vinyl compound-cyanovinyl copolymer (SAN)/clay nanocomposite; 10-40 wt% of a rubber component; and 10-85 wt% of an aromatic vinyl compound-cyanovinyl copolymer. Preferably the clay is an unorganized clay and comprises a natural clay and a synthetic clay; the rubber component is a diene-based rubber; and the aromatic vinyl compound-cyanovinyl copolymer/clay nanocomposite is modified by using a chemical modifier.

Description

ABS / Clay Nanocomposite Having High Falling Dart Impact Strength

Field of invention

The present invention relates to an ABS / clay nanocomposite material having a high falling ball impact strength. More specifically, the present invention relates to an ABS / clay nanocomposite material having improved impact resistance while maintaining heat resistance.

Background of the Invention

Aromatic vinyl compound-vinyl cyanide copolymer ABS is a copolymer of styrene-butadiene-acrylonitrile and is one of the most diverse polymer resins of styrene-based resins. Because of its low price, excellent performance, and the largest capacity among the process resins, it is widely used in the automobile industry, household electronics, electronic weighing machine industry and mechanical industry. Therefore, by modifying the properties of ABS resins or improving various performances, it is one of the current research focuses to be able to be more competitive in various applications.

Improving the performance of the ABS resin such as transparency, gloss, heat resistance, weather resistance, impact resistance and flame retardancy is the main direction of the research. Among them, high-gloss ABS resin meets the demand of high-end home appliances, the gloss is more than 90%. On the contrary, low-gloss ABS resins are widely used in automobile interior parts and have visual enjoyment of motion sickness and sensory organs. Flame retardant ABS is mainly used in home appliances.

Among other features, heat resistance and impact resistance are particularly important in the automotive and consumer electronics sectors, and balancing these two performances is an important issue. How to improve the heat resistance while maintaining the heat resistance, or how to increase the heat resistance while maintaining the impact resistance is a major research area that each company is interested.

The performance of the ABS resin can be affected by three component ratios. In general, when the rubber content is increased, the impact resistance of the resin may be improved, but performance of heat resistance, rigidity, strength, weather resistance, and chemical resistance is weakened. Increasing styrene content improves tensile strength, stiffness, transparency, and processing fluidity, but impact strength is significantly reduced. Increasing the content of acrylonitrile may improve the heat resistance, chemical resistance, rigidity and hardness of the resin, but the impact strength and fluidity are worse. If simply adjusting the ratio of the three components of the ABS resin, the performance can only be changed within a relatively small range.

However, when nanoinorganic particles are added to a polymer and distributed evenly in a polymer system to form a nanocomposite material, the polymer's performance is greatly improved due to the large specific surface area of the nanoinorganic particles and the interaction between the polymer and the material. It can be extended to applications. Among them, the polymer / clay nanocomposite material is one of the most widely studied composite materials. It is possible to significantly increase the strength and heat resistance by adding clay inorganic material to the polymer. However, the introduction of the inorganic material can usually greatly reduce the impact resistance of the polymer, which is an unacceptable portion of the ABS resin. Because ABS resin is one of the widely used in each field because of its excellent impact resistance.

Therefore, the present inventors came to develop an ABS / clay resin nanocomposite material having high falling ball impact strength without sacrificing the impact resistance when introducing inorganic particles into the ABS resin to improve its performance.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an ABS / clay nanocomposite material having high falling ball impact strength.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an ABS / clay nanocomposite material having improved impact resistance while maintaining heat resistance.

The above object of the present invention can be achieved by the present invention described below.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention (A) 5 to 50% by weight of aromatic vinyl compound-vinyl cyanide copolymer (SAN) / clay nanocomposites; (B) 10 to 40% by weight of the rubber component; And (C) 10 to 85% by weight of an aromatic vinyl compound-vinyl cyanide copolymer. The present invention relates to an ABS / clay nanocomposite having a high ball impact impact strength.

The clay is clay that has not been subjected to organic treatment, and includes natural clay and synthetic clay.

In the aromatic vinyl compound-vinyl cyanide copolymer (SAN) / clay nanocomposite, the content of clay is 0.5 to 20% of the weight of the polymer.

The rubber component (B) is a diene rubber, preferably polybutadiene.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the aromatic vinyl compound-vinyl cyanide copolymer (SAN) / clay nanocomposite (A) is modified by adding a chemical modifier.

The chemical modifier is a reactive chemical modifier, one end of which contains a double bond, and the other end contains a quaternary amine group or quaternary phosphonium group that can react with clay.

The chemical modifier is used in the range of 20 mM or less.

The present invention provides a method for producing ABS / clay nanocomposites. The method is modified by reacting the clay with a chemical modifier; Adding an aromatic vinyl monomer and a vinyl cyanide monomer to the modified clay, followed by emulsion polymerization to prepare an aromatic vinyl-vinyl cyanide copolymer / clay nanocomposite; And mixing a rubber component and an aromatic vinyl-vinyl cyanide copolymer resin in the aromatic vinyl-cyanide copolymer / clay nanocomposite.

After the aromatic vinyl-vinyl cyanide copolymer / clay nanocomposite prepared is solidified and dried, the rubber component and the aromatic vinyl-cyanide copolymer resin may be mixed.

Detailed Description of the Invention

(A) SAN / clay nanocomposites

In the present invention, the SAN / clay nanocomposites are prepared mainly through emulsion polymerization.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the clay is dispersed in water, a chemical modification is performed by adding a reactive chemical modifier, and then, an aromatic vinyl monomer and a vinyl cyanide monomer are added thereto to emulsify and polymerize the aromatic vinyl compound-vinyl cyanide. SAN Nanocomposites are obtained. At this time, after the emulsion polymerization, it may further comprise a solidification and drying process.

After the clay is dispersed and reformed, the clay is directly emulsified without a separate separation process, so that the impact strength of falling balls can be effectively improved.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a certain amount of clay is added to water and stirred, followed by stirring after 1 hour by addition of a quantitative reactive chemical modifier, and then left for one day. The purpose of this process is to stir the clay vigorously in medium water or to sufficiently disperse, dissolve, expand and exfoliate it, while also allowing the chemical modifier to be intercalated or adsorbed onto the surface of the clay exfoliation layer. Next, a fixed amount of styrene monomer and acrylonitrile monomer are added together with the emulsifier to increase the temperature, and an initiator is added to initiate the polymerization reaction. The copolymerization reaction is usually polymerized at a temperature in the range of about 25 to 100 ° C. During this process, the polymer is formed by monomer polymerization, and the reactive chemical modifier also becomes part of the polymer molecular chain as the polymerization takes place. Then, the clay nanocomposites are obtained by solidification and solidification followed by drying.

The clay may include both natural or synthetic clays. It is preferable to select layered silica ore. The layered silicate ore that can be used in the present invention is nocturnal earth, montmorillonite, talc powder, kaolinite, recolite, lithium montmorillonite, synthetic lithium saponite, and the like. Among them, montmorillonite is preferably selected.

In general, the addition of other inorganic granules to the emulsion polymerization lowers the stability of the emulsion and is likely to cause a large amount of coagulum. Therefore, in the present invention, the content of montmorillonite mixed in the polymer is slightly changed as necessary. The content of montmorillonite can be varied within the range of 0.5 to 20% of the weight of the polymer. If the amount is less than 0.5%, the effect is insignificant, and if it is used more than 20%, the impact resistance may be lowered.

The chemical modifier used in the present invention is a kind of reactive chemical modifier, and may contain a double bond at one end to polymerize through free radicals, and a quaternary amine group or quaternary phosphonium capable of reacting with clay at the other end. Or a group that can be converted to the quaternary amine group or quaternary phosphonium group during the polymerization and condensation process. The reactive chemical modifier causes a dual action, one of which forms part of the polymer molecular chain during the emulsion polymerization process, and the second contains a quaternary amine group or a quaternary phosphonium group in the chemical modifier to remove cations present between clay layers. It is possible to substitute and thus anchor the polymer chain to the clay surface. This process occurs in the course of the polymerization reaction, and is more easily realized since the diffusion of the small molecule monomer is much easier than the diffusion of the polymer chain.

In the present invention, the reactive chemical modifier is [2- (acryloyloxy) ethyl] trimethylammonium chloride, (3-methylacryloyloxy) trimethylammonium chloride, vinylbenzyltrimethylammonium chloride (VBTA), [2- ( Methylacryloyloxy)] trimethylammonium chloride (MAETA), [3- (methylacrylamide) propyl] trimethylammonium chloride, 3-acryloyloxy2-hydroxypropylmethyl ammonium chloride, [2- (1, 4 -Cyclo hexadienylethyl)] trimethylammonium iodide, 2-cyclopentadienyl phenylmethylene-diphenylphosphonium bromide, 3-phenylallylpropyl triphenylphosphonium bromide, allylpropyl triphenylphosphonium bromide, 4- Methylphenyl methylenediphenyl 2-butylene phosphonium bromide, 3-methyloxy phenylmethylene diphenyl phenylallylpropyl phosphonium bromide, 3, 3-diphenyl allylpropyl trimethyl phosphonium Bromide, allylpropyl- (3-methyloxy phenylmethylene) diphenyl phosphonium bromide, 4-vinylpyridine, 3- (2- (2-methyloxyphenyl) vinyl) pyridine, N, N'-dialkylamine acrylate , N, N'-dialkylmethyl amineacrylate, N, N'-dialkylamino ethylacrylate, N, N'-dialkylamino methylethyl acrylate, vinylpyridine, 2-methyl-1-vinylimida Sol, and mixtures thereof.

In the present invention, when modifying clay, the capacity of the reactive chemical modifier used is determined depending on the type of clay used and the operating conditions. Generally, it can be selected within a concentration range of 20 mM or less of water, which is a polymerization medium, and preferably 10 mM or less.

The aromatic vinyl monomers include styrene, alpha-methylstyrene, p-t-butylstyrene, 2,4-dimethylstyrene, vinyl toluene, and the like, most preferably styrene.

The vinyl cyanide monomers include acrylonitrile and methacrylonitrile, and acrylonitrile is most preferred.

In the present invention, in the preparation of the SAN / clay nanocomposite, a conventionally known emulsifier may be used, and for example, an anionic emulsifier such as sodium, ammonium, or potassium salt of alkyl sulfate may be used. Specifically, sodium dodecyl sulfate, sodium dodecylbenzene sulfate, etc. are used.

The SAN / clay nanocomposites are used at 5-50 wt%. When used in less than 5% by weight may lower the heat resistance, when used in excess of 50% by weight may reduce the impact resistance.

(B) rubber components

In the present invention, the rubber component may be a diene rubber, an acrylic rubber, a silicone rubber, or the like, preferably a diene rubber, and more preferably a polybutadiene rubber.

The rubber component may be grafted with the aromatic vinyl compound-vinyl cyanide copolymer (SAN) polymer to be melt-dispersed in the aromatic vinyl compound-vinyl cyanide copolymer (SAN) matrix, thereby providing impact resistance of the final material. .

Among the rubber components, there are different kinds according to the difference in the grafting ratio of the aromatic vinyl compound-vinyl cyanide copolymer. The nanocomposite material provided in the present invention may include a rubber component of one grafting ratio, and the effect of design may be obtained by including two or more rubber components of two or more different grafting ratios as necessary.

In the present invention, the rubber component is used in 10 to 40% by weight. If it is less than 10% by weight the impact strength may be lowered, if it exceeds 40% by weight, heat resistance may be lowered.

(C) aromatic vinyl-vinyl cyanide copolymer

The aromatic vinyl-vinyl cyanide copolymer may be prepared by a conventional method, and various methods such as emulsion polymerization, suspension polymerization, and bulk polymerization are all possible. In the copolymer, the weight ratio of the aromatic vinyl compound and the vinyl cyanide compound can be adjusted as necessary, and further, a copolymer of various ratios can be obtained.

The aromatic vinyl compound includes styrene, alpha-methylstyrene, p-t-butylstyrene, 2,4-dimethylstyrene, vinyl toluene, and the like, of which styrene is most preferred.

Examples of the vinyl cyanide compound include acrylonitrile and methacrylonitrile, and acrylonitrile is most preferred.

In the composite material of the present invention, one kind of aromatic vinyl-vinyl cyanide copolymer may be used, and two or more kinds of aromatic vinyl-vinyl cyanide copolymer may be included as necessary.

The aromatic vinyl-vinyl cyanide copolymer constitutes 10 to 85% by weight in the total composition. The content may be changed for balance maintenance depending on the ABS / clay nanocomposite and the rubber component. When the aromatic vinyl-vinyl cyanide copolymer is more than 85% by weight of the total composition, falling impact strength may be lowered, and less than 10% by weight of impact resistance may be lowered.

Manufacturing method of ABS / clay nanocomposite

In the present invention, the ABS / clay nanocomposite is prepared by mixing the aromatic vinyl compound-vinyl cyanide copolymer (SAN) / clay nanocomposite, the aromatic vinyl-vinyl cyanide compound copolymer and the rubber component in the ratios specified above, and the necessary processing aids. It is prepared by extrusion molding. In the present invention, the composite material during the extrusion process, the processing temperature is usually below 240 ℃. If the temperature is too high, oxidative decomposition of the rubber component may occur and further, the performance of the material will be lost.

The processing aid includes a heat stabilizer, an antioxidant, a lubricant, a plasticizer, a flame retardant, a colorant, and the like, which can be easily selected and used by those skilled in the art.

The ABS / clay nanocomposite material of the present invention can significantly improve the falling ball impact strength of conventional ABS resins. Thus, it is possible to replace ABS resin for housing of home appliances such as washing machine, television, video, audio, CD player, computer, copier, printer, washing machine and the like. It can also be used as a vehicle exterior material.

The invention can be better understood by the following examples, which are intended for the purpose of illustration of the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of protection defined by the appended claims.

Examples 1-3: When MAETA was used as a chemical modifier

Example 1

First step: 40 grams of natural high-purity montmorillonite (Clonisite Na from Southern Clay), which is 5% of the monomer weight, is added to an appropriate amount of water so that the content of montmorillonite is 0.56%, followed by stirring for 1 hour to 0.1 mM (water Chemical modifiers (MAETA) were added and reacted for one day.

Second step: Sodium dodecyl persulfate (2%, Purity 80%, 20g) as a mixture of styrene-acrylonitrile monomer (800 g) having 20 times the weight of montmorillonite and emulsifier, potassium persulfate (5 mM) as an initiator After the addition, the temperature was raised to 60 ° C. to initiate the polymerization reaction, and after 6 hours, the polymerization reaction was completed, and the obtained emulsion was solidified and sufficiently dried to obtain a SAN / clay nanocomposite.

Step 3: twin screw extruder after mixing 20% by weight of SAN / clay nanocomposite, 53% by weight of aromatic vinyl compound-vinyl cyanide copolymer component, and 27% by weight of polybutadiene rubber component with an appropriate amount of processing aid After extrusion, the test sample was obtained by injection molding.

Example 2

The same procedure as in Example 1 was conducted except that 0.5 mM chemical modifier (MAETA) was added.

Example 3

The same procedure as in Example 1 was conducted except that 1.0 mM of chemical modifier (MAETA) was added.

Comparative Example 1

The same procedure as in Example 1 was conducted except that montmorillonite and other chemical modifiers (MAETA) were not used.

Physical properties were evaluated by the following method from the test sample prepared above. The experimental results are shown in Table 1.

Property measurement method

(1) Falling Dart Impact Strength: According to ASTM D3029 (unit:%), the weight was dropped using the weight of 5 kg and dropped on the specimen to observe the failure pattern. The breakdown rate was measured by evaluation.

(2) Notch Impact Strength (Notched): Notch impact strength was measured according to ASTM D256 (1/4 inch thickness, Kgfcm / cm).

(3) Heat resistance degree (degreeC): It measured according to ASTMD648 (1/4 ", 18.5 kgf / cm <2>, 120 degreeC / hr).

Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Comparative Example 1 MAETA (mM) 0.1 0.5 1.0 - Falling Impact Strength (J) 40.51 46.60 41.13 28.93 Notch impact strength 12.0 12.7 13.6 11.5 Heat resistance degree (HDT, ℃) 91.6 91.9 91.2 89.4

-The content of clay is 1% by weight based on ABS resin.

-The content of chemical modifier is based on the concentration of water in the emulsion polymerization.

As shown in Table 1, the fall impact strength of Examples 1 to 3 using the chemical modifier (MAETA) was not only significantly higher than that of Comparative Example 1 without the chemical modifier (MAETA), but also the notch impact strength was also improved. Can be. This explains that the ABS / clay nanocomposite using the chemical modifier (MAETA) has significantly improved the impact of falling ball compared to the pure ABS resin.

Examples 4-5: VBTA (vinylbenzyltrimethylammonium bromide) is used as a chemical modifier

Example 4

0.5 mM (based on water) of chemical modifier (VBTA) instead of 0.1 mM (based on water) of MAETA in the first step in Example 1, and initiator in the second step The same procedure as in Example 1 was conducted except that 15 mM was used. The experimental results are shown in Table 2.

Example 5

The same procedure as in Example 4 was performed except that 1.0 mM of chemical modifier (VBTA) was added.

Comparative Example 2

The same procedure as in Example 4 was carried out except that montmorillonite and a chemical modifier (VBTA) were not used.

Example 4 Example 5 Comparative Example 2 VBTA (mM) 0.5 1.0 - Falling Impact Strength (J) 36.92 38.19 31.31 Notch impact strength 10.0 9.6 11.9 Heat resistance degree (HDT, ℃) 88.3 89.1 86.5

-The content of clay is 1% by weight based on ABS resin.

-The content of chemical modifier is based on the concentration of water in the emulsion polymerization.

As shown in Table 2, Examples 4 to 5 using the chemical modifier (VBTA) can be seen that the fall impact strength is significantly higher than that of Comparative Example 2 even if the notch impact strength is slightly lowered. At the same time, the reactive chemical modifier MAETA is superior to the effect of VBTA in falling impact strength and notch impact strength through Table 1 and Table 2, and MAETA has a much larger falling impact strength of ABS / clay nanocomposite. It can be found that it can improve, broaden its application range and improve product quality.

Example 6 When Chemical Modifiers Are Not Used

First step: 40 grams of natural high-purity montmorillonite (Croisite Na from Southern Clay), which is 5% by weight of the monomer, is added to an appropriate amount of water so that the content of montmorillonite is 0.56%, followed by reaction for one day.

The second step: adding a mixture of styrene-acrylonitrile monomer (800 g), which is 20 times the weight of montmorillonite, an appropriate amount of emulsifier (2%) and initiator (15 mM), and increasing the temperature to 60 ° C. to initiate polymerization. After time, the polymerization is terminated, the obtained emulsion is solidified and sufficiently dried to obtain a SAN / clay nanocomposite.

Step 3: After mixing a suitable amount of processing aid in 20% by weight of the SAN / clay nanocomposite, 53% by weight of the aromatic vinyl compound-vinyl cyanide copolymer component, and 27% by weight of the polybutadiene rubber component, the twin screw Extruded by an extruder, injection molded to obtain a test sample.

Example 7

Except in the third step, except that the composition ratio is different, such as using 40 wt% SAN / clay nanocomposite, 33 wt% aromatic vinyl compound-vinyl cyanide copolymer component, and 27 wt% polybutadiene rubber component. It carried out similarly to Example 6.

Comparative Example 3

The same procedure as in Example 6 was conducted except that no montmorillonite and chemical modifiers were used.

Example 6 Example 7 Comparative Example 3 Clay content (%) 1.0 2.0 - Falling Impact Strength (J) 40.54 39.29 30.34 Notch impact strength 10.9 9.9 10.2 Heat resistance degree (HDT, ℃) 88.8 90.6 87.1

-The content of clay is based on the weight of the composite material.

Table 3 shows the dropping impact strength (FDI impact strength) and notch impact strength (IZOD impact strength) of Examples 6 to 7 in which only the clay content is changed without using a chemical modifier and Comparative Example 3 without using a clay and a chemical modifier. Indicates. The ABS / clay nanocomposites obtained in Examples 6 to 7 have a slightly lower notch impact strength as the clay content increases with the increase of clay content compared to Comparative Example 3 without the use of clays and chemical modifiers. As a result, the original 30J was increased to about 40J, of which the content of clay added was only 1 to 2% of the weight of the ABS resin. It can be seen that the fall impact strength of the material can be effectively improved through the addition of clay.

The present invention has the effect of improving the impact resistance while maintaining the heat resistance, and provides an ABS / clay nanocomposite material having a high falling ball impact strength.

Simple modifications or changes of the present invention can be easily carried out by those skilled in the art, and all such modifications or changes can be seen to be included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims (12)

(A) 5-50% by weight of an aromatic vinyl compound-vinyl cyanide copolymer (SAN) / clay nanocomposite; (B) 10 to 40% by weight of the rubber component; And (C) 10 to 85% by weight of an aromatic vinyl compound-vinyl cyanide copolymer; ABS / clay nanocomposite comprising a. The ABS / clay nanocomposite according to claim 1, wherein the clay is not subjected to organic treatment and comprises natural clay and synthetic clay. The ABS / clay nanocomposite according to claim 2, wherein the clay content is 0.5 to 20% of the weight of the aromatic vinyl compound-vinyl cyanide copolymer (SAN) / clay nanocomposite. The ABS / clay nanocomposite according to claim 1, wherein the rubber component (B) is a diene rubber. The ABS / clay nanocomposite according to claim 1, wherein the aromatic vinyl compound-vinyl cyanide copolymer (SAN) / clay nanocomposite (A) is modified by adding a chemical modifier. The method of claim 5, wherein the chemical modifier is a reactive chemical modifier, one end contains a double bond, the other end contains a quaternary amine group or quaternary phosphonium group that can react with the clay ABS / clay nanocomposite material. The chemical modifier of claim 5, wherein the chemical modifier is [2- (acryloyloxy) ethyl] trimethylammonium chloride, (3-methylacryloyloxy) trimethylammonium chloride, vinylbenzyltrimethylammonium chloride (VBTA), [2- (Methylacryloyloxy)] trimethylammonium chloride (MAETA), [3- (methylacrylamide) propyl] trimethylammonium chloride, 3-acryloyloxy2-hydroxypropylmethyl ammonium chloride, [2- (1, 4-cyclo hexadienylethyl)] trimethylammonium iodide, 2-cyclopentadienyl phenylmethylene-diphenylphosphonium bromide, 3-phenylallylpropyl triphenylphosphonium bromide, allylpropyl triphenyl phosphonium bromide, 4 -Methylphenyl methylenediphenyl 2-butylene phosphonium bromide, 3-methyloxy phenylmethylene diphenyl phenylallylpropyl phosphonium bromide, 3,3-diphenyl allylpropyl trimethyl phosphonium Amide, allylpropyl- (3-methyloxy phenylmethylene) diphenyl phosphonium bromide, 4-vinylpyridine, 3- (2- (2-methyloxyphenyl) vinyl) pyridine, N, N'-dialkylamine acrylate , N, N'-dialkylmethyl amineacrylate, N, N'-dialkylamino ethylacrylate, N, N'-dialkylamino methylethyl acrylate, vinylpyridine, 2-methyl-1-vinylimida ABS / clay nanocomposite, characterized in that one or more are used in combination from the group consisting of sol. The method of claim 5 wherein the chemical modifier ABS / clay nanocomposite, characterized in that for modifying the clay in the range of 20 mM or less. An interior / exterior material for home appliances or automobiles formed by molding the ABS / clay nanocomposite material according to any one of claims 1 to 8. By modifying clay with a chemical modifier; Adding an aromatic vinyl monomer and a vinyl cyanide monomer to the modified clay, followed by emulsion polymerization to prepare an aromatic vinyl-vinyl cyanide copolymer / clay nanocomposite; And 10 to 40% by weight of the rubber component and 10 to 85% by weight of the aromatic vinyl-vinyl cyanide copolymer resin are mixed with 5 to 50% by weight of the aromatic vinyl-vinyl cyanide copolymer / clay nanocomposite; Method for producing an ABS / clay nanocomposite comprising the step. 11. The ABS / clay nanocomposite according to claim 10, wherein the prepared aromatic vinyl-vinyl cyanide copolymer / clay nanocomposite is solidified and dried, followed by mixing a rubber component and an aromatic vinyl-vinyl cyanide copolymer resin. Manufacturing method. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of extruding the ABS / clay nanocomposite by adding a processing aid selected from the group consisting of a heat stabilizer, an antioxidant, a lubricant, a plasticizer, a flame retardant, a colorant and mixtures thereof. A method for producing an ABS / clay nanocomposite material.