Synthesis of polymer nanocomposites by UV-curing of silver nano particles-acrylic resins

Abstract

We present here a simple method to synthesize organic-dispersible colloids and a scenario for the ultra-fast fabrication of silver/polymer nanocomposite by light-induced crosslinking polymerization. The objective of this work was to apply UV-curing technology for the fabrication of nanocomposite materials containing silver nanoparticles dispersed in a polymer binder. This new route allows processing operations to be simplified and the properties of the final product to be improved. A special attention has been paid to the synthesis and dispersion of metal nanoparticles in various monomers and oligomers and to the photopolymerization kinetics. The silver nanoparticles were generated by reduction of AgNO 3 with t -BuONa activated sodium hydride. Ag(0) particles present a narrow size distribution with an average diameter of 6.5 nm. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis has shown that Ag(0) nanoparticles are well dispersed in the acrylic resin. The curing process was followed quantitatively by FTIR spectroscopy through the decrease upon UV exposure of the IR bands characteristic of the functional groups. The silver nanoparticles have no detrimental effect on the photopolymerization kinetics. The incorporation of metal nanoparticles was found to greatly reduce the gloss of UV-cured coatings. Moreover, the outstanding optical and viscoelastic properties of these UV-cured nanocomposites opens up interesting perspectives in various fields of applications (optics, nanoelectronic, biology...).