Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of mesoporous SBA-15 contents on the properties of polystyrene composites via in-situ emulsion polymerization

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Polymer Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Different loading of mesoporous molecular sieve SBA-15 was used to prepare polystyrene (PS)/SBA-15 composite materials via in-situ emulsion polymerization. The influence of SBA-15 silica on the styrene emulsion polymerization was studied regarding to the monomer conversion, particle size and particle size distribution, stability and viscosity of the resulting emulsion. The structure and properties of the composites were investigated by infrared spectroscopy (IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). In addition, the glass transition temperature (Tg), thermal mechanical property and thermal stability of the composite film were measured by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. The results indicated that the composite emulsion showed high monomer conversion, thick viscosity, low coagulum, uniform particle size and broad size distribution. Molecular weight of the polymer decreased with the increase of mesoporous silica. SBA-15 silica was dispersed evenly in PS matrix at a loading of 5 %. The PS/SBA-15 composite material containing 10 % silica maintained a certain ordered structure. DMA results demonstrated that PS/SBA-15 composite exhibited greater storage modulus and high Tg compared to pure PS. The improved thermal stability and Tg of the composite were also confirmed by the TGA and DSC.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Carrado KA (2000) Synthetic organo- and polymer-clays: preparation, characterization, and materials applications. Appl Clay Sci 17:1–23

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Goettler LA, Lee KY, Thakkar H (2007) Layered silicate reinforced polymer nanocomposites: development and applications. Polymer Rev 47:291–317

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Okada A, Usuki A (2006) Twenty years of polymer-clay nanocomposites. Macromol Mater Eng 291:1449–1476

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Balazs AC, Emrick T, Russell TP (2006) Nanoparticle polymer composites: where two small worlds meet. Science 314:1107–1110

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Ahir SV, Huang YY, Terentjev EM (2008) Polymers with aligned carbon nanotubes: active composite materials. Polymer 49:3841–3854

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Salvetat JP, Bhattacharyya S, Pipes RB (2006) Progress on mechanics of carbon nanotubes and derived materials. J Nanosci Nanotechnol 6:1857–1882

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Shi S-L, Zhang L-Z, Li J-S (2009) Electrical and dielectric properties of multiwall carbon nanotube/polyaniline composites. J Polym Res 16:395–399

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Garg P, Singh B, Kumar G, Gupta T, Pandey I, Seth R, Tandon R, Mathur R (2010) Effect of dispersion conditions on the mechanical properties of multi-walled carbon nanotubes based epoxy resin composites. J Polym Res 18:1397–1407

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Zeng QH, Yu AB, Lu GQ (2008) Multiscale modeling and simulation of polymer nanocomposites. Prog Polym Sci 33:191–269

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Zou H, Wu SS, Shen J (2008) Polymer/silica nanocomposites: Preparation, characterization, properties, and applications. Chem Rev 108:3893–3957

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Xi QA, Zhao CF, Yuan JZ, Cheng SY (2004) The effects of polymer-nanofiller interactions on the dynamical mechanical properties of PMMA/CaCO3 composites prepared by microemulsion template. J Appl Polym Sci 91:2739–2749

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Maurizio Avella MEE, Gentile G (2007) PMMA based nanocomposites filled with modified CaCO3 nanoparticles. Macromol Symp 247:140–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Ma XK, Zhou B, Deng YH, Sheng Y, Wang CY, Pan Y, Wang ZC (2008) Study on CaCO3/PMMA nanocomposite microspheres by soapless emulsion polymerization. Colloid Surface A 312:190–194

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Singh A, Singh N, Singh P, Singh R. Synthesis and characterization of conducting polymer composites based on polyaniline–polyethylene glycol–zinc sulfide system. J Polym Res 18:67–77

  15. Chen X, Yu J, He M, Guo S, Luo Z, Lu S (2009) Effects of zinc borate and microcapsulated red phosphorus on mechanical properties and flame retardancy of polypropylene/magnesium hydroxide composites. J Polym Res 16:357–362

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Run MT, Wu SZ, Zhang DY, Wu G (2007) A polymer/mesoporous molecular sieve composite: preparation, structure and properties. Mater Chem Phys 105:341–347

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Sano T, Hagimoto H, Sumiya S, Naito Y, Oumi Y, Uozumi T, Soga K (2001) Application of porous inorganic materials to adsorptive separation of methylalumoxane used as co-catalyst in olefin polymerization. Microporous Mesoporous Mater 44:557–564

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Leite ER, Carreno NL, Longo E, Valentini A, Probst LF (2002) Synthesis of mesoporous silica with embedded nickel nanoparticles for catalyst applications. J Nanosci Nanotechnol 2:89–94

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Nguyen JV, Jones CW (2004) Design, behavior, and recycling of silica-supported CuBr-bipyridine ATRP catalysts. Macromolecules 37:1190–1203

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Tamon H, Sone T, Mikami M, Okazaki M (1997) Preparation and characterization of silica-titania and silica-alumina aerogels. J Colloid Interface Sci 188:493–500

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Li F, Li XM, Zhang SS (2006) One-pot preparation of silica-supported hybrid immobilized metal affinity adsorbent with macroporous surface based on surface imprinting coating technique combined with polysaccharide incorporated sol–gel process. J Chromatogr A 1129:223–230

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Moller K, Bein T, Fischer RX (1999) Synthesis of ordered mesoporous methacrylate hybrid systems: hosts for molecular polymer composites. Chem Mater 11:665–673

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. He J, Shen YB, Evans DG (2008) A nanocomposite structure based on modified MCM-48 and polystyrene. Microporous Mesoporous Mater 109:73–83

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Moller K, Bein T, Fischer RX (1998) Entrapment of PMMA polymer strands in micro- and mesoporous materials. Chem Mater 10:1841–1852

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Frisch HL, Mark JE (1996) Nanocomposites prepared by threading polymer chains through zeolites, mesoporous silica, or silica nanotubes. Chem Mater 8:1735–1738

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Tolbert SH, Wu JJ, Gross AF, Nguyen TQ, Schwartz BJ (2001) Directional energy migration in an oriented nanometer-scale host/guest composite: semiconducting polymers threaded into mesoporous silica. Microporous Mesoporous Mater 44:445–451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Wang N, Li MT, Zhang JS (2005) Polymer-filled porous MCM-41: an effective means to design polymer-based nanocomposite. Mater Lett 59:2685–2688

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Cheng QL, Pavlinek V, Li CZ, Lengalova A, He Y, Saha P (2006) Synthesis and characterization of new mesoporous material with conducting polypyrrole confined in mesoporous silica. Mater Chem Phys 98:504–508

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Lenarda M, Chessa G, Moretti E, Polizzi S, Storaro L, Talon A (2006) Toward the preparation of a nanocomposite material through surface initiated controlled/“living” radical polymerization of styrene inside the channels of MCM-41 silica. J Mater Sci 41:6305–6312

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Uemura T, Horike S, Kitagawa K, Mizuno M, Endo K, Bracco S, Comotti A, Sozzani P, Nagaoka M, Kitagawa S (2008) Conformation and molecular dynamics of single polystyrene chain confined in coordination nanospace. J Am Chem Soc 130:6781–6788

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Fujiwara M, Kojima K, Tanaka Y, Nomura R (2004) A simple preparation method of epoxy resin/silica nanocomposite for T-g loss material. J Mater Chem 14:1195–1202

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Min CK, Wu TB, Yang WT, Chen CL (2008) Functionalized mesoporous silica/polyimide nanocomposite thin films with improved mechanical properties and low dielectric constant. Compos Sci Technol 68:1570–1578

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Lin JJ, Wang XD (2008) Preparation, microstructure, and properties of novel low-kappa brominated epoxy/mesoporous silica composites. Eur Polym J 44:1414–1427

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Wang N, Shi ZX, Zhang J, Wang L (2008) The influence of modification of mesoporous silica with polyethylene via in situ Ziegler-Natta polymerization on PE/MCM-41 nanocomposite. J Compos Mater 42:1151–1157

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Zhang FA, Lee DK, Pinnavaia TJ (2009) PMMA—mesocellular foam silica nanocomposites prepared through batch emulsion polymerization and compression molding. Polymer 50:4768–4774

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Zhang FA, Song C, Yu CL (2011) Effects of preparation methods on the property of PMMA/SBA-15 mesoporous silica composites. J Polym Res 18:1757–1764

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Tang EJ, Cheng GX, Pang XS, Ma XL, Xing FB (2006) Synthesis of nano-ZnO/poly(methyl methacrylate) composite microsphere through emulsion polymerization and its UV-shielding properties. Colloid Polym Sci 284:422–428

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the financial support of key laboratory of new material and processing technology of Guangxi Autonomous Region (0842003-5A), National Natural Science Funding of China (Granted No.21064002) and SRF for ROCS, SEM (2011–1139).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Materials and New Processing Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Material Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin, 541004, People’s Republic of China

    Zhengji Chen, Cheng Song, Rui Bai, Zhibo Wei & Faai Zhang

Authors
  1. Zhengji Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cheng Song
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Rui Bai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Zhibo Wei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Faai Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Faai Zhang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chen, Z., Song, C., Bai, R. et al. Effects of mesoporous SBA-15 contents on the properties of polystyrene composites via in-situ emulsion polymerization. J Polym Res 19, 9846 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-012-9846-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-012-9846-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation