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Effect of tetrahydrofuran on poly(methyl methacrylate) and silica in the interfacial regions of polymer nanocomposites

Polymer Journal volume 52, pages 1203–1210 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

The effects of tetrahydrofuran (THF) on the physical properties of poly(methyl methacrylate) at (PMMA)/silica nanoparticle interfaces in polymer nanocomposites were investigated via differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Amorphous structures containing PMMA chains with large numbers of trans-gauche conformers were observed in the annealed samples. The amorphous structures in the samples cast from THF suspensions contained PMMA chains rich in trans–trans conformers. These amorphous structures differed from those of neat PMMA prepared without silica. Although the polymer chain mobility was reduced due to interactions between PMMA and the silica nanoparticles, trans–trans-enriched PMMA chains within the amorphous structures were less affected by these interactions. When the amorphous structures were heated above the glass transition temperature of PMMA, the proportion of trans–gauche conformers increased.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Research Fellow Number JP19J14528. The XRD measurements were performed at the Ookayama Materials Analysis Division, Technical Department.

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  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, 152-8552, Tokyo, Japan

    Kazuki Matsuura, Keiichi Kuboyama & Toshiaki Ougizawa

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  1. Kazuki Matsuura
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Correspondence to Keiichi Kuboyama.

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Matsuura, K., Kuboyama, K. & Ougizawa, T. Effect of tetrahydrofuran on poly(methyl methacrylate) and silica in the interfacial regions of polymer nanocomposites. Polym J 52, 1203–1210 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-020-0375-0

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