ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

A novel silane coupling agent with peroxy groups used as an initiator in the graft polymerization of AN or MMA on nano-TiO₂

Yazhen Wang, Rifang Li, Hongge Jia, Guoxing Yang, Yutao Di, Chenxi Xu, Liqun Ma, Hui Zhang, Yongli Zhou, Yu Zang, Shuangping Xu, Zhaoyang Sun, Liwu Zu, Chenge Yue, and Tianyu Lan

Qiqihar University, Qiqihar, People’s Republic of China

E-mail: wyz6166@163.com

Abstract: A novel peroxy group-containing silane coupling agent was synthesized and anchored on the surface of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano-TiO₂) to form an immobilized-initiator-modified nano-TiO₂ species. In this study, the kinetic parameters of the peroxy group-containing silane were tested and assessed using DSC. The pre-exponential factor (A_d) was 8.973 × 10⁸ and the activation energy (E_a) was 80.736 kJ mol⁻¹. Moreover, the empirical Arrhenius equation was determined to be ln K_d = − 80.736/RT + ln(8.973 × 10⁸). To obtain continuous polymers, acrylonitrile (AN) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) were polymerized using the novel peroxy group-containing silane and FeSO₄ as an initiator system. The number average molecular weights (M_n of PAN = 3×10⁴ and M_n of PMMA = 1.4 × 10⁵) and polydispersity indexes (PDI of PAN = 2.76 and PDI of PMMA = 1.65) were determined by GPC. It was suggested that the redox initiation system can generate highly reactive species on the surfaces of inorganic nanoparticles. The nano-TiO₂-grafted polymers were successfully obtained.

Keywords: Silane coupling agent ; Peroxy groups ; Nanocomposites ; Surface modification 

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-018-0524-5

Chemical Papers 72 (11) 2871–2877 (2018)