2.5. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy

The chemical structures of MWBA and polymeric MWBA nanocomposites were investigated using a Thermo Nicolet Nexus Smart Orbit FTIR spectrophotometer (USA). The FTIR spectra of the samples were taken in the wavenumber region between 4000 and 400 cm⁻¹ using the KBr pellet technique except for T2 and T8 by a direct deposition technique. To obtain a single spectrum, a total of 32 scans at a resolution of 4 cm⁻¹ were accumulated using a rapid-scan software in OMNIC 8.0. Prior to measurements, all samples were dried in an oven at 60 °C for 24 h.