Synthesis and Characterization of All Acrylic Block Copolymer/Clay Nanocomposites Prepared via Surface Initiated Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (SI-ATRP)

Abstract

Surface initiated polymerization (SIP) is an emerging powerful tool to modify and tailor the surface properties of nanoparticles. Among different methods of SIP, surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) has several strategic advantages over other methods of polymerizations. This investigation reports the preparation and characterization of poly(2-ethylhexyl acrylate) (PEHA)/clay nanocomposite from nanoclay surface via SI-ATRP and poly(2-ethylhexyl acrylate)-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PEHA-b-PMMA)/clay nanocomposite via conventional ATRP. To carry out SI-ATRP, the nanoclay (Cloisite Na+) surface was first modified by incorporating an ATRP initiator (2-bromopropionyl bromide) to nanoclay surface via a grafting reaction. The prepared bromo-functionalized nanoclay (Clay–Br) was then used to carry out SI-ATRP of 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (EHA) at 90 °C using CuBr as catalyst in combination with N, N, N′, N″, N″- pentamethyl diethylenetriamine (PMDETA) as the ligand. The macroinitiator...