title: Diazonium cation-exchanged clay: an efficient, unfrequented route for making clay/polymer nanocomposites.
abstract: We describe a simple, off-the-beaten-path strategy for making clay/polymer nanocomposites through tandem diazonium salt interface chemistry and radical photopolymerization. Prior to photopolymerization, sodium montmorillonite (MMT) was ion exchanged with N,N'-dimethylbenzenediazonium cation (DMA) from the tetrafluoroborate salt precursor. DMA acts as a hydrogen donor for benzophenone in solution; this pair of co-initiators permits us to photopolymerize glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) between the lamellae of the diazonium-modified clay, therefore providing intercalated MMT-PGMA nanocomposites with an onset of exfoliation. This work conclusively provides a new approach for bridging reactive and functional polymers to layered nanomaterials via aryl diazonium salts in a simple, fast, efficient cation-exchange approach.
authors.affiliation: Univ Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, ITODYS, UMR CNRS 7086 , 15 rue J-A de Baïf, 75013 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Zakaria
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Salmi
authors.forename: Karim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Benzarti
authors.forename: Mohamed M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Chehimi