Effect of grafting architecture on the surfactant-like behavior of clay-poly(NiPAAm) nanohybrids

► A new class of surfactant-like polymer-clay nanohybrid has been synthesized. ► Surface tension measurements were performed to determine CMCs of the hybrids. ► Densely grafted nanohybrids possess more inter-hybrid contacts and lower CMCs. ► Hybrids with double-headed linkers exhibit more intra-hybrid contacts and higher CMCs. ► Molecular simulations were performed to verify the experimental observations.