Abstract
High toughness and light transmittance PMMA composite was prepared via in-situ thermal polymerization with gel networks self-assembling from dendritic gelators. Significant improvements of PMMA composite's toughness could be achieved by adding a small amount of dendrimers, without losing its light transmittance. Phase morphology, mechanical properties and optical performance of the composite were investigated with SEM, DMTA, impact strength test and UV–Vis spectrophotometer, respectively. The results showed that gel networks constructed from the dendrimers’ self-assembling kept intact during in-situ polymerization, while the PMMA composite containing very small amount(≤1.0 wt%) of G2-C12-G2orgelator-1 exhibits higher storage modulus, toughness and glass transition temperature than those of PMMA homopolymer.
Acknowledgement
Financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No: 51173167,21004052) and Zhejiang Provincial Innovative Research Team (Grant No: 2009R50004,G9717101052) are gratefully acknowledged.