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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Morphology, mechanical properties and thermal degradation kinetics of PMMA-zirconia nanocomposites prepared by melt compounding

Eugenio CaponettiT.e. MotaungAdriaan S. LuytMaria Luisa SaladinoDelia Francesca Chillura MartinoVia F. Marini

subject

MorphologyThermogravimetric analysisMaterials sciencePolymers and PlasticsGeneral Chemical EngineeringNanoparticleInfrared spectroscopylcsh:Chemical technologyNanocompositeslcsh:TA401-492Materials Chemistrylcsh:TP1-1185Cubic zirconiaThermal stabilityPhysical and Theoretical ChemistryFourier transform infrared spectroscopyComposite materialSettore CHIM/02 - Chimica FisicaNanocompositeOrganic ChemistryDynamic mechanical analysisPMMAnanocomposites PMMA zirconia morphology dynamic mechanical analysis thermal degradationThermal degradationZirconialcsh:Materials of engineering and construction. Mechanics of materials

description

Zirconia nanoparticles were synthesized by means of a sol-gel method and embedded in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) by melt compounding. The zirconia was well dispersed in the PMMA matrix, with only a few clusters, especially for the highest investigated zirconia content. NMR results showed heteronuclear dipolar interactions involving the carbons and the surrounding hydrogen nuclei. The effect of the amount of zirconia, in the range of 1–5!wt%, on the thermomechanical properties and thermal degradation kinetics of PMMA was also investigated by means of dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), thermogravimetric analyses (TGA), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The presence of zirconia showed a decrease in the storage and loss moduli at lower temperatures, probably due to a plasticization effect. The presence of zirconia in PMMA slightly increased its thermal stability, but the activation energies of thermal degradation for the nanocomposites were significantly lower, at degrees of conversion higher than 0.3, than those of pure PMMA.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2012-11-01Express Polymer Letters
https://doi.org/10.3144/expresspolymlett.2012.93