Sol–gel synthesis and physical characterization of high impact polystyrene nanocomposites based on Fe2O3 doped with ZnO

Abstract

Manufacturing of organic–inorganic composites with enhanced properties particularly, Fe2O3–ZnO/high impact polystyrene (HIPS) nanocomposites promising candidates for many requests. The presence of nanoparticles enhances the structural, thermal, and chemical stabilities, mechanical and operational performance of the nanocomposite matrices. Modified HIPS nanocomposites based on Fe2O3 doped by (0.0–0.6) ZnO were synthesized using the sol–gel method and gel casting approach. The structures, spectroscopic, dielectric and mechanical properties of the synthesized polymeric nanocomposites were investigated by XRD, TEM, FT-IR, UV–vis-DRs, terahertz (THz), dielectric and mechanical analysis. From chemical structural results, it can be confirmed the existence of ZnO in Fe2O3 and the internal structure rearrangement of iron oxide before dispersion into the HIPS matrix. The UV–Vis DRs show that the optical band gap decreases significantly with the increase of ZnO content in the nanocomposite. THz spectra in the spectral range of 0.2–2.5 THz showed an increase in the refractive indices and absorption coefficients for the prepared nanocomposites. Besides, the mechanical properties were affected by the addition of ZnO to HIPS-Fe2O3 where the elongation at break %, Young’s modulus, and maximum strength varied values relying on the applied ratio of ZnO especially for the ratio of 0.4. Finally, the produced nanocomposites can find widespread applications in optoelectronic, chemical, and biological applications besides their feasibility to apply on a large scale.