Abstract
Polymer-based nanocomposites containing nanodiamonds (NDs) are attractive multifunctional materials with a growing range of applications. In this work, in the frame of developing completely biocompatible systems, nanocomposites based on polyethylene oxide (PEO) and different amount of NDs have been formulated through melt mixing and fully characterized. In particular, the reinforcement effect of NDs in PEO has been probed through tensile tests, and the rheological response of PEO-based nanocomposites as a function of the nanoparticles amount has been investigated and discussed. The obtained results show that the presence of well-distributed NDs strengthens the mechanical performance of the nanocomposites and brings about an increase of the PEO crystallinity, suggesting a strong adhesion between NDs and polymer matrix. Furthermore, as a result of NDs adding, alterations of the rheological behaviour of neat PEO can be noticed, as NDs are able to significantly influence the long-range dynamics of PEO chains. Besides, accelerated aging tests demonstrate that NDs show a remarkable protective ability against PEO photodegradation, due to their ability to attenuate efficiently UV radiation. The latter opens up new avenues for the use of NDs as multifunctional nanofillers for polymer-based nanocomposites with enhanced photooxidative resistance.
Highlights
In the last years, significant efforts have been addressed towards the formulation of high performance polymer-based nanocomposites, suitable for a wide range of applications [1, 2]
The internal structure of NDs-containing nanocomposites has been observed by means of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), which allows us to evaluate the nanoparticles dispersion as well as the compatibility between the nanofillers and the host polymer matrix
The evaluation of the dispersion state of the nanoparticles in a polymer matrix is crucial since it plays a key role in enhancing the final properties of resulting nanocomposites
Summary
Significant efforts have been addressed towards the formulation of high performance polymer-based nanocomposites, suitable for a wide range of applications [1, 2] For this purpose, the potential of several kinds of nanoparticles, differing for chemical structure and dimensionality, has been exploited to enhance the mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of polymeric matrices and to provide them with new functionalities [3,4,5]. Since NDs are able to strongly absorb UV radiation, they can be used to protect polymeric matrices from photoaging [21], insufficient attention has been paid so far to the use of NDs as protective nanofillers against polymer photodegradation Whit this in mind, in the frame of developing completely biocompatible polymerbased systems with enhanced photodegradation stability, in this work we prepared nanocomposites based on polyethylene oxide (PEO) and different amount of NDs, potentially applicable for the formulation of biomedical devices. A special attention has been paid to the study of the photooxidative stability of the nanocomposites, in order to probe the effectiveness of NDs in the protection of polymeric matrix against photoinduced degradation
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