Ultrasound-assisted synthesis of poly(MMA-co-BA)/ZnO nanocomposites with enhanced physical properties

Maneesh Kumar Poddar; Sachin Sharma; Srinivas Pattipaka; D Pamu; Vijayanand S Moholkar

doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2017.05.040

Ultrasound-assisted synthesis of poly(MMA-co-BA)/ZnO nanocomposites with enhanced physical properties

Ultrason Sonochem. 2017 Nov:39:782-791. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2017.05.040. Epub 2017 May 30.

Authors

Maneesh Kumar Poddar¹, Sachin Sharma¹, Srinivas Pattipaka², D Pamu², Vijayanand S Moholkar³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati 781 039, Assam, India.
² Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati 781 039, Assam, India.
³ Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati 781 039, Assam, India. Electronic address: vmoholkar@iitg.ernet.in.

PMID: 28733007
DOI: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2017.05.040

Abstract

The present study reports synthesis and characterization of poly(MMA-co-BA)/ZnO nanocomposites using ultrasound-assisted in-situ emulsion polymerization. Methyl methacrylate (MMA) was copolymerized with butyl acrylate (BA), for enhanced ductility of copolymer matrix, in presence of nanoscale ZnO particles. Ultrasound generated strong micro-turbulence in reaction mixture, which resulted in higher encapsulation and uniform dispersion of ZnO (in native form - without surface modification) in polymer matrix, as compared to mechanical stirring. The nanocomposites were characterized for physical properties and structural morphology using standard techniques such as XRD, FTIR, particle size analysis, UV-Visible spectroscopy, electrical conductivity, TGA, DSC, FE-SEM and TEM. Copolymerization of MMA and BA (in presence of ZnO) followed second order kinetics. Thermal stability (T_10%=324.9°C) and glass transition temperature (T_g=67.8°C) of poly(MMA-co-BA)/ZnO nanocomposites showed significant enhancement (35.1°C for 1wt% ZnO and 15.7°C for 4wt% ZnO, respectively), as compared to pristine poly(MMA-co-BA). poly(MMA-co-BA)/ZnO (5wt%) nanocomposites possessed the highest electrical conductivity of 0.192μS/cm and peak UV absorptivity of 0.55 at 372nm. Solution rheological study of nanocomposites revealed enhancement in viscosity with increasing ZnO loading. Maximum viscosity of 0.01Pa-s was obtained for 5wt% ZnO loading.

Keywords: Cavitation; Nanocomposite; Poly(MMA–co–BA)/ZnO; Ultrasound.