Preparation of organic-inorganic hybrid nanoparticles by radiation induced grafting and their dispersion in a polymer matrix

Abstract

Organic-inorganic hybrid nanoparticles were successfully prepared by grafting polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) onto barium titanate (BT) nanoparticles (F-BT) by the co-irradiation technique at room temperature under vacuum. The results of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) demonstrated that PVDF was covalently grafted onto the BT surface. The crystallization behavior of F-BT was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), which revealed that the crystalline phase of PVDF on the BT surface was the β phase, while there is no indication of the presence of an α phase. The prepared F-BT nanoparticles were then dispersed in the PVDF matrix to obtain the nanocomposites. Compared to pristine BT, F-BT showed better dispersion in the PVDF matrix and enhanced mechanical properties of the nanocomposites. This can be attributed to the grafted tails on the F-BT, which had specific interactions with PVDF molecular chains.

Keywords

• radiation grafting
• barium titanate
• nanoparticles
• polyvinylidene fluoride (pvdf)
• dispersion