The polymer/bentonite (montmorillonite, MMT) hybrid material was synthesized through reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) radical polymerization method. A series of structure-controlled polymer/bentonite hybrid materials were achieved successfully through RAFT polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) in cyclohexanone solution using ethyl xanthate-terminated bentonite as the RAFT chain transfer agent (CTA) and AIBN as the initiator. The microstructures, thermal characteristics, organic content, molecular weight and molecular weight distribution of the material were characterized and measured with FT-IR, NMR, SPM, TG and GPC respectively.

Key words: bentonite (montmorillonite), reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) radical polymerization, ethyl xanthate-terminated bentonite, molecular weight, molecular weight distribution