Tunable Morphology and Hydrophobicity of Polyfluoroacrylate/Clay Nanocomposite Prepared by In Situ RAFT Polymerization in Miniemulsion

Abstract

This investigation reports preparation of polyfluoroacrylate/clay nanocomposite with armored and encapsulated morphology via in situ reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization in miniemulsion. In this case, 2,2,3,3,4,4,4‐heptafluoro butyl acrylate (HFBA) is polymerized in miniemulsion in the presence of sodium montmorillonite (NaMMT) using 2‐cyanopropyl dodecyl trithiocarbonate (CPDTC) as a RAFT agent. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) analysis shows that the polymers have controlled molecular weights as well as narrow dispersity (Đ ≈ 1.1). The morphology of nanoclay can be tuned by varying the interaction with different functional comonomers. Nanoclay is encapsulated and intercalated in presence of poly (ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMEMA) as comonomer. Addition of 2‐acryloxy ethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (AETAC) as functional comonomer leads to exfoliation of nanoclay resulting armored morphology, as evidenced by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses. Poly(2,2,3,3,4,4,4‐heptafluoro butyl acrylate) (PHFBA) armored with nanoclay shows improved thermal stability and water resistance. image