Preparation of polymer brushes on attapulgite surfaces via a combination of CROP and click reaction

In this work, by a combination of controlled ring-opening polymerization (CROP) and click reaction, we reported a facile and useful method to synthesize linear poly(ɛ-caprolactone) at attapulgite nanocomposites with well-defined structures. For this, first, the chlorine terminated attapulgite was prepared by the self-assembly of 3-chloropropyltrimethoxysilane from the surfaces of attapulgite. And then, the terminal chlorines of modified attapulgite were substituted with azido groups. As the second step, linear propargyl-terminated poly(ɛ-caprolactone) (PCLs) with different molecular weights were synthesized by the CROP of ɛ-CL monomer in toluene with Sn(Oct)2 as a catalyst and propargyl alcohol as an initiator. Finally, the azido-terminated attapulgites were reacted with propargyl-terminated PCLs via the click reactions.