Magnetic Polypropylene Nanocomposites Reinforced with In-situ Fabricated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles
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Magnetic Polypropylene Nanocomposites Reinforced with In-situ Fabricated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Jiahua Zhu1, Suying Wei2 and Zhanhu Guo1* 1
Integrated Composites Laboratory (ICL), Dan F. Smith Department of Chemical Engineering, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX, 77710 USA [email protected] 2
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX 77710, USA
ABSTRACT Polypropylene(PP)/Fe2O3 nanocomposites are fabricated using an in-situ method to uniformly disperse the magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) in polymer matrix. Maleic anhydride functionalized PP (f-PP) with different molecular weight is used as surfactant to stabilize the insitu produced nanoparticles. The thermal behavior of PP and its nanocomposites with the incorporation of small amount f-PP is studied with thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The results show that the onset degradation temperature is increased by ~117 oC with the addition of NPs. Both melt rheology and transmission electron microscopy are used to investigate the NPs dispersion. Strong saturated magnetization (Ms) is observed after introducing f-PP to the nanocomposites through protecting the as-formed NPs from oxidation. INTRODUCTION Polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) are now being extensively studied because of their cost effective processability, lightweight and tunable physical properties, such as mechanical, magnetic, optical and electronic properties.[1-4] With all these unparallel advantages, PNCs have found wide potential applications in solar cells,[5] microwave absorption layers,[6,7] supercapacitors[8] and electrochromic devices.[9] Magnetic PNCs are now being extensively studied for their potential applications in high-capacity magnetic storage media and elements of nanoscale integral circuits. The major challenges for obtaining high performance magnetic units arise from the magnetically induced particle agglomeration. Techniques to stabilize and disperse magnetic NPs by encapsulating the magnetic core within polymers,[10] silica[11] and carbon[12] have been reported. Mono-dispersed magnetic NPs are able to be produced via different appraoches.[13,14] However, it is still a challenge to reach a high quality dispersion of these mono-dispersed NPs in polymer matrix due to the limited surface compatibility between the two phases. Right now, most of the current research work on fabricating PNCs starts from the as prepared NPs and polymers (or monomer) with a direct blending[15] or surface initiated polymerization method.[16] In this work, the PNCs are produced with an in-situ method. Maleic anhydride functionalized polypropylene (f-PP) is introduced as a surfactant to stabilized and disperse the in-situ formed NPs with the advantage of covalent bonding between carboxylic group and NPs. Meanwhile, excellent interfacial compatibility between f-PP and PP are expected owing to the similar backbone structure.
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EXPERIMENT The isotactic Polypropelene (PP) used in this study is supplied by Total Petrochemicals USA, Inc (Mn§40500, Mw§155000, ȡ=0.9 g/cm3). The maleic anhy
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