Utilizing exfoliated clay–poly(norbornene) nanocomposite prepared by metal-mediated surface-initiated polymerization as model end-tethered polymers on an organoclay substrate

Current interest in dispersion strategies for nanoparticle fillers is driving research into covalently attached polymer brushes. The primary need for these “hairy nanoparticles” is for testing and developing new technologies based on polymer nanocomposites. To that end, we have prepared polymer nanocomposites with covalently tethered chains on a naturally occurring montmorillonite clay template via a metal-mediated surface-initiated ring opening metathesis polymerization approach. The nanocomposites were characterized in terms of polymer:clay composition and of various chain architecture parameters such as molecular weight, polydispersity index, and grafting density.