Preparation and Characterization of Poly(methyl methacrylate)-b-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)/Attapulgite Nanocomposites via Reverse ATRP

摘要

1.Introduction In recent years, polymer/clay nanocomposites have attracted a great deal of attention because addition of a low volume fraction of clay to polymeric matrix will significantly enhance its physical properties, such as mechanical and barrier properties, flammability resistance and thermal stability[1]. Attapulgite is a type of natural fibrillar silicate clay mineral and its fibrillar single crystal is the smallest structure unit with a length of 500-2000 nm and 10-25 nm in diameter[2].A new poly(methyl methacrylate)-b-poly (Nisopropylacrylamide) (PMMA-b-PNIPAM) amphiphilic diblock copolymer brushes is prepared using attapulgite as inorganic substrate by surface-initiated reverse ATRP (Fig. 1). Chain extension and GPC studies of the resulting polymers are characterized to confirm the "living"/controlled nature of the new polymerization process. Successful grafting is determined by FT-IR analysis, TEM and thermogravimetric analyses. Using this method is expected to open up a new method and explore a wider way to the surface modification of attapulgite.