Novel copolymer for SiO 2 nanoparticles dispersion

Abstract

High performance polymers exhibiting multifunctional characteristics can be achieved by the introduction of inorganic nanoparticles like SiO 2 into the functional polymers. In the present work a copolymer epoxy poly(dimethylacrylamide) was synthesized to disperse the SiO 2 nanoparticles. The aim of the work is to develop a new method/process/material for the dispersion of nanoparticles and evaluating the performance of these composites. FT-IR studies of the polymer adsorbed SiO 2 nanoparticles confirmed that the polymer molecules chain was anchored on the surface of the SiO 2 nanoparticles. The improved interfacial interaction between the particles and polymer enhanced the thermal properties of the composites. The results also show the newly synthesized polymer disperse the nanoparticles well as evidenced by SEM analysis, the uniformly dispersed SiO 2 nanoparticles in the polymer matrix and the particles almost remained in their original shape and size even after incorporation in to the polymer matrix. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012.