The Effect of Concentration and Type of Plasticizer on the Mechanical Properties of Cellulose Acetate Butyrate Organic-Inorganic Hybrids

Abstract

Organic/inorganic polymer hybrids is a rapidly growing area of research because they offer opportunities to combine desirable properties of organic polymers (toughness, elasticity, formability) with those of inorganic solids (hardness, chemical resistance, strength). There are several routes to prepare hybrid materials, but one of the most common method is solgel technique generating inorganic phase within organic polymer matrix. The advantage of sol–gel technique is mild processing characteristics and the possibility of tailoring morphology of the growing inorganic phase and thus properties of the material by the subtle control of various reaction conditions. This process includes hydrolysis of the precursor (metal alkoxide) followed by condensation reactions of the resulting hydroxyl groups. Considering the nature of the interface between the organic and inorganic phases, hybrid materials can be categorized into two different classes. The first class corresponds to non-covalently bound networks of inorganic and organic phases. These hybrids show weak interactions between the polymer matrix and inorganic phase, such as van der Waals, hydrogen bonding or weak electrostatic interactions and can be prepared by physical mixing of an organic polymer with a metal alkoxide. In the second class organic and inorganic phases are linked through strong chemical bonds (covalent or ionic). Chemical bonding can be achieved by the incorporation of silane coupling groups into organic polymers [1-3].