Improving Thermal and Optical Properties of Biodegradable Poly(ethyl vinyl ether-co-maleic anhydride) (PEVE/MA) Copolymer by Encapsulation of TiO2 Nanoparticles Via in situ Radical Polymerization

Abstract

This study deals with the synthesis of alternative nanocomposite of poly (ethyl vinyl ether- maleic anhydride)/ titanium dioxide using maleic anhydride and ethyl vinyl ether as monomers, via a simple and cost-effective method of free-radical polymerization through simultaneous formation of the copolymer matrix and TiO2 nanoparticles networks. Investigations including FT-IR, XRD, SEM, UV-Vis and TGA demonstrated that distribution of TiO2 nanoparticles at polymer matrix was largely homogeneous and compared to the PEVE-MA copolymer, thermal stability of the PEVE-MA/TiO2 was considerably raised, especially in the 10%wt of TiO2 nanoparticles range. Moreover, optical properties of PEVE/MA copolymer were altered and shifted to the visible region.