Functional organo-Mt/copolymer nanoarchitectures. Microwave-assisted rapid synthesis and characterisation of ODA–Mt/poly[NIPAm-co-(MA-alt-2,3-2H-DHP)] nanocomposites

• Novel CPNs were synthesised by interlamellar microwave-assisted copolymerisation.
• The one-pot synthetic procedure was fast, simple and highly effective.
• The chemical and physical structures of the fabricated hybrid CPNs were confirmed.
• The morphologies strongly depend on the conformations of the matrix copolymer.
• New strategy to design and synthesise CPNs for future bioengineering applications.

In this work, novel octadecyl amine–montmorillonite (ODA–Mt) copolymer nanocomposites were synthesised by interlamellar microwave-assisted complex-radical copolymerisation. The microwave method is found to be a facile and highly effective means to clay polymer nanocomposites (CPNs) that provide a higher rate of interlamellar copolymerisation and conversion of micro- and nanoparticles. The chemical and physical structures, surface morphologies and thermal behaviours of the prepared CPN were investigated by FTIR and 1H (13C) NMR spectroscopy, XRD, SEM, TEM, thermal (DSC and TGA) and dynamic mechanical (DMA) analysis methods. That copolymerisation was accompanied by in situ complex formation (charge transfer complex and H-bonding similar with known copolymerisation without ODA–Mt) and the intercalative amidisation of anhydride units with the octadecyl amine groups of Mt was determined. These observed chemical and physical interfacial interactions as effective in situ processing play an important role in the formation of hybrid systems and micro- and nanocomposites with stimuli-responsive NIPAm polymer chains.

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