Radiation Induced Surface Modification of Nanoparticles and their Dispersion in the Polymer Matrix.

Zhiang Fu,Yongjin Li,Lingmin Hu,Xiaoying Gu,Jingye Li

doi:10.3390/nano10112237

Abstract

Polymer grafted inorganic nanoparticles attract significant attention, but pose challenges because of the complexity. In this work, a facile strategy to the graft polymer onto the surface of nanoparticles have been introduced. The vinyl functionalized SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) were first prepared by the surface modification of the unmodified SiO2 using γ-methacryloxy propyl-trimethoxylsilane. The NPs were then mixed with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), which was followed by the Co-60 Gamma radiation at room temperature. PVDF molecular chains were chemically grafted onto the surface of SiO2 nanoparticles by the linking of the double bond on the NPs. The graft ratio of PVDF on SiO2 NPs surface can be precisely controlled by adjusting the absorbed dose and reactant feed ratio (maximum graft ratio was 31.3 wt%). The strategy is simple and it should be applied to the surface modification of many other nanoparticles. The prepared PVDF-grafted SiO2 NPs were then dispersed in the PVDF matrix to make the nanocomposites. It was found that the modified NPs can be precisely dispersed into the PVDF matrix, as compared with pristine silica. The filling content of modifications SiO2 NPs on the PVDF nanocomposites is almost doubled than the pristine SiO2 counterpart. Accordingly, the mechanical property of the nanocomposites is significantly improved.

Highlights

Organic–inorganic hybrid nanocomposites have attracted extensive interest because of their excellent comprehensive properties through the synergism of an inorganic and organic counterpart [1,2,3]
The newly developed process has the following advantages: the graft reactions between SiO2-vinyl and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) can be initiated over a wide temperature range including sub-ambient levels, making it a reproducible preparation of hybrid nanoparticles for industrial production
We proposed that it was directly related to the immobilization effect of PVDF onto the solid inorganic core

Summary

Introduction

Organic–inorganic hybrid nanocomposites have attracted extensive interest because of their excellent comprehensive properties through the synergism of an inorganic and organic counterpart [1,2,3]. Dispersing inorganic nanoparticles in an organic (polymer) matrix is usually prone to phase segregation [4]. In order to achieve more efficient overall performance between inorganic and organic moieties, physical or chemical surface modification of the nanoparticles with organic ligands is necessary [2,5]. The physisorption of polymer chains onto particles surfaces with van der Waals interactions or hydrogen bonds were improved [6,7,8,9] while, for traditional chemical modifications, the enhancement of the synergistic effect was to create a covalent bond between macromolecules and the particles’ surface by various grafting reactions, including “grafting through,” “grafting from,” and “grafting onto” [10,11,12,13,14]. Various reaction groups have to have an additional modification, which needs a delicate operation, severe

Methods

Results

Conclusion