Growing poly(methyl methacrylate) chains from the surface of zinc oxide nanoparticles via surface-initiated reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization

ABSTRACT

In the present work, we focus on fabrication of the novel nanocomposite, ZnO grafted with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), via surface-initiated reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. A trithiocarbonate RAFT agent was anchored onto ZnO nanoparticles in a simple procedure using a ligand exchange reaction of S-benzyl S'-trimethoxysilylpropyltrithiocarbonate (BTPT) with hydroxyl groups on the surface of ZnO nanoparticles. BTPT-anchored ZnO nanoparticles were then used for surface-initiated RAFT polymerization of MMA to fabricate structurally well-defined ZnO-g-PMMA hybrid nanoparticles. The structure, property and morphology of PMMA-g-ZnO nanocomposites were investigated by fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), energy dispersive X-Ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and field emission scanning electronic microscopy (FE-SEM)

KEYWORDS:

• ZnO nanoparticles
• Poly(methyl methacrylate)
• PMMA-g-ZnO
• RAFT polymerization

Acknowledgments

This research is funded by Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) under grant number 104.02–2014.53. Authors would like to thank Nguyen Thi Thuong, Xuan Thang Cao, Cam Anh Thieu, Thanh Khoa Phung, Giang Ngoc Ha, Van Thuan Tran from Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for the synthesis of S-benzyl S-trimethoxysilylpropyltrithiocarbonate.