Study of film formation from PS latex/TiO2 nanocomposites; Effect of latex size and TiO2 content. Issue 12 (4th February 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Uğur, Şaziye; Selin Sunay, M.; Pekcan, Önder
• Is Part Of: Polymer composites. Volume 35:Issue 12(2014:Dec.)
• Page Start: 2376
• Page End: 2389
• Publication Date: 2014-02-04
• Subjects: Polymeric composites -- Periodicals; 620.192
• DOI: 10.1002/pc.22905
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0272-8397

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>In this work, we investigated the film formation from polystyrene (PS) latex/TiO<sub>2</sub> nanocomposites using the steady state fluorescence (SSF) and UV–vis (UVV) techniques depending on PS particle size and TiO<sub>2</sub> content. The structural properties of films were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The films were prepared from pyrene (P)‐labeled PS particles (SmPS:203 nm; LgPS:382 nm) by covering them with different layers of TiO<sub>2</sub> by dip‐coating method and then annealed at elevated temperatures. Two film series (SmPS/TiO<sub>2</sub> and LgPS/TiO<sub>2</sub>) were prepared and seven different films were studied in various TiO<sub>2</sub> contents for each series. Scattered (<italic>I</italic><sub>sc</sub>), fluorescence (<italic>I</italic><sub>P</sub>), and transmitted (<italic>I</italic><sub>tr</sub>) light intensities were measured after each annealing step to monitor the stages of film formation. Results showed that, SmPS/TiO<sub>2</sub> films undergo complete film formation independent of TiO<sub>2</sub> content. However, no film formation occurs above a certain TiO<sub>2</sub> content in LgPS/TiO<sub>2</sub> films. SEM images showed that SmPS/TiO<sub>2</sub> films have highly well‐ordered microporous structures with increasing TiO<sub>2</sub> content after extraction of PS polymer whereas LgPS/TiO2 composites show no porous structure for high TiO<sub>2</sub> content. Our experiments also showed that porous TiO<sub>2</sub> films with different sizes could be successfully prepared using this technique. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:2376–2389, 2014. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers</p> </abstract>