Grafting of Poly(poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate) onto Halloysite Nanotubes via Surface-Initiated Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

: A synthetic strategy for the functionalization of halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) with poly(poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate) (PPEGMA) via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SIATRP). The covalent immobilization of PPEGMA was confirmed by FT-IR analysis. The preparation of the nanohybrids was further evidenced by the XPS and EDX studies. The morphologies of functionalized HNTs were investigated by FE-SEM analysis. TGA results suggested that the nanohybrids can be used in high temperature applications. Thus, this newly developed surface functionalization protocol offers the tailoring of the HNTs surface with wide functionalities and is potentially useful to the biomedical applications.