A method of synthesizing a clay-polyacrylate composite. An aqueous solution including clay is mixed with at least one organosilane coupling agent including an acrylate moiety to form a silanized-clay suspension. The silanized-clay suspension is contacted with a first acrylate monomer and a second acrylate monomer in an inert environment, where the first acrylate monomer and the second acrylate monomer have different solubility. A polymerization initiator is added to the silanized-clay suspension before or during the contacting of the silanized-clay suspension with the first acrylate monomer and the second acrylate monomer in the inert environment to form the clay-polyacrylate composite including the first and second acrylate monomer, where the first acrylate monomer is a hydrophilic acrylate monomer including a hydroxyl (—OH) group and the second acrylate monomer is a hydrophobic acrylate monomer which repels water.