An exfoliated clay-poly(norbornene) nanocomposite prepared by metal-mediated surface-initiated polymerization

Abstract

An exfoliated clay−polymer nanocomposite was prepared by surface‐initiated ring opening metathesis polymerization (SI‐ROMP) of norbornene on a montmorillonite (MMT) clay with a modified surface. Utilizing the hydrothermal‐silylation reaction between a norbornenyl‐bearing chlorosilane agent and silanol groups of the MMT clay, we were able to bind a metal alkylidene catalyst to the surface in order to grow poly(norbornene) chains directly from the surface using ROMP. Our approach produced nanocomposites having poly(norbornene) chains that are covalently attached to the inorganic substrate, as opposed to most conventional polymer‐clay composites that have ionically tethered chains (via the ammonium‐based modifiers of the organoclay) or physically adsorbed polymers. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:2349–2354, 2015. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers

Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Clay-poly(norbornene) Nanocomposites from Ruthenium Alkylidene-mediated Surface-initiated Polymerization

“…The first sample is a physical mixture of the clay template and the polymer where a phase separation was observed. This was completely different from the TEM micrograph of the nanocomposite where the silicate clay platelets can be [Penaloza et al, 2015] observed homogeneously dispersed within the boundaries of the polymer matrix ( Figure 8B). This confirms that the polymer chains are covalently attached to the clay.…”

“…The procedure described below has been published elsewhere (Penaloza, Seery, 2011;Seery & Penaloza, 2013;Penaloza et al, 2015). A 100 mg C15Asil was placed in 20-mL scintillation vial and was brought inside glovebox.…”

“…The synthetic route and characterization of the nanocomposites prepared from this metholodogy was previously published (Penaloza et al, 2015). In our previous work, not only a stable attachment between the polymer and the clay could be achieved but having relatively longer polymer chains (as compared to alkyl chains from ammonium modifiers commonly used in clay additives for nanocomposite preparation) increases the possibility of clay structure delamination (exfoliation) Zhou et al, 2001).…”

“…In this paper, the mechanical and thermal characteristics of clay-based polymer nanocomposite films prepared by extending beyond the incorporation of an organoclay in the polymer matrix by directly growing the [Penaloza et al, 2015]). …”

“…This approach also produced an exfoliated nanocomposite as confirmed by TEM and XRD measurements as shown in Figure 2. (Penaloza et al, 2015). The details of this approach have been published elsewhere (Ahn et al, 2008;Jordi & Seery, 2005;Yavuz et al, 2009).…”