In this work, nanoparticle vermiculite clay was prepared by acid treated with hydrochloric acid at room temperature for and dried at 300 A degrees C for different time intervals. The untreated (VMT) and acid-treated (DVMT) vermiculite clay were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT-IR, and transmission electron microscopy. The DVMT and maleic anhydride (MA) at different concentrations (parts per hundred of rubber) were mixed with styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) to obtain SBR/DVMT/MA nanocomposites. The SBR/VMT composites and SBR nanocomposites were subjected to gamma irradiation at different doses from 25 to 150 kGy. As a comparison, the gamma-irradiated SBR composites with VMT and nanocomposites with DVMT/MA were characterized in terms of XRD, physico-chemical and thermal properties. The results indicated that the incorporation of DVMT nanoparticles and MA improved the physico-chemical and thermal properties of the SBR/clay nanocomposite. The improvement was achieved when the contents of both DVMT and MA were 10 phr and irradiation dose of 100 kGy.