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Preparation of nanocomposites based on styrene/(p-methylstyrene) and SiO2 nanoparticles, through a metallocene–MAO initiating system

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Abstract

The preparation of nanocomposites, including styrene, tertbutylstyrene, and SiO2 nanoparticles, in toluene solution was attempted by in situ polymerization using a cyclopentadienyltitaniumtrichloride–methylaluminoxane, CpTiCl3–MAO, initiator system. SiO2 nanospheres (ca. 20 nm in diameter) were synthesized by the sol–gel method. The nanoparticles’ surface was modified with hexadecyltrimethoxysilane (Mod-SiO2Nps) in order to improve the interactions with the polymer. The polymerization activity increased as the proportion of p-methyl styrene was increased in the initial feed. With respect to the effect of the incorporation of nanoparticles in the reactions, the catalytic activity increased slightly in the presence of 5 wt% of nanospheres compared to neat copolymerization without any nanoparticles. Our studies achieved a convenient route through in situ polymerization, avoiding further treatment of the nanocomposite. The thermal stability of the PS increased with nanoparticle incorporation. The effect of SiO2-Npts on the catalyst’s activity and on the thermal properties of the resulting nanocomposites was determined.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support from DICYT Project, código 051641ZR_DAS, Vicerrectoría de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación, to Dr. P.A. Zapata, and from the Universidad de Santiago de Chile, and partial financial support by the Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (FONDECYT) to Dr. F.M, Rabagliati under Project 108.5061, are gratefully acknowledged and financial support from MINECO Project MAT2016-79869_C2-1-P (AEI/FEDER, UE) to R. Benavente. Thanks are due to colleagues S. Muñoz-Guerra and A., Martínez de Ilarduya from Departament d’Enginyeria Química, ETSEIB, Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya, UPC, Barcelona, Spain, for performing NMR analysis of obtained polymers, P(S-co-p-MeS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grupo de Polímeros, Departamento Ciencias del Ambiente, Facultad Química y Biología, Universidad Santiago de Chile, USACH, Casilla 40, Correo 33, Santiago, Chile

    Paula A. Zapata, Paulina Zamora, Daniel A. Canales & Franco M. Rabagliati

  2. Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Biotecnología, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile and Centro para la Investigación Interdisciplinaria Avanzada en Ciencias de los Materiales (CIMAT), Blanco Encalada 2008, Santiago, Chile

    Raúl Quijada

  3. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Polímeros (ICTP-CSIC), Juan de la Cierva 3, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Rosario Benavente

Authors
  1. Paula A. Zapata
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  2. Paulina Zamora
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  3. Daniel A. Canales
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  4. Raúl Quijada
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  5. Rosario Benavente
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  6. Franco M. Rabagliati
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Correspondence to Paula A. Zapata or Franco M. Rabagliati.

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Zapata, P.A., Zamora, P., Canales, D.A. et al. Preparation of nanocomposites based on styrene/(p-methylstyrene) and SiO2 nanoparticles, through a metallocene–MAO initiating system. Polym. Bull. 76, 1041–1058 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-018-2420-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-018-2420-0

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