Patent ID: 7166657

Claim:
A splayed material comprising a natural, unfunctionalized, clay layered material splayed by a highly branched polymer, wherein said highly branched polymer comprises at least one hyperbranched polymer, and wherein said hyperbranched polymer is prepared by a chain polymerization of a monomer of the formula M n -R 1 -M 2 m wherein (i) R 1 is a substituted or non-substituted alkyl, alkenyl, or aryl moiety and hetero atom containing substituted or non-substituted alkyl, alkenyl, or aryl moiety; (ii), M 1 and M 2 are reactive groups that react independently of each other in which M 1 is a polymerization group and M 2 is a precursor of a moiety M 2 * which initiates the polymerization of M 1 as a result of being activated by any source; and (iii), n and m are integers of at least 1.