AbstractA novel aromatic amine organo‐modifier synthesized in our previous work was used to treat montmorillonite (MMT) and the organo‐modified MMT was used to prepare poly(etherimide) (PEI)/MMT nanocomposites by a melt intercalation method. MMT treated by this amine exhibited large layer‐to‐layer spacing and a high ion‐exchange ratio (>95%). The nanocomposites were characterized with X‐ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic mechanical analysis, a universal tester, thermogravimetric analysis, and by differential scanning calorimetry. The results of XRD and TEM showed that the nanocomposites formed exfoliated structures even when the MMT content was 10 wt %. When the MMT content was below 3 wt %, the PEI/MMT nanocomposites were strengthened and toughened at the same time. The nanocomposites also showed marked decreases in coefficient of thermal expansion and solvent uptake. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 1857–1863, 2003