Author(s)

Nikesh Samarth^1*, Linchon Mehta¹, Vinayak Kamble¹, Malhari Kulkarni², Prakash Mahanwar¹

¹Department of Polymer and Surface Engineering, Nathalal Parekh Marg, Mumbai, India.
²Polymer Engineering, Maharashtra Institute of Technology, Pune, India.

Serials of polystyrene/SiO₂ Nano composites (PS/SiO₂) with different content of inorganic fillers were successfully prepared by the in situ bulk radical polymerization of styrene under microwave irradiation. The effect of the amount of Nano SiO₂ on the properties of the PS/SiO₂ Nanocomposites along with the average relative molecular masses (Mn, Mz and Mw) was investigated by thermal analysis and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). Their structural model was proposed on the basis of the Optical Microscopy, FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The dispersion of nanoparticles in Polystyrene is observed in the magnified image. The effect of microwave irradiation power on molecular weight of polystyrene was also studied. It was found that, the microwave assisted reaction needs less time as compare to conventional polymerization and found to be in between 10 to 15 min.

Nanocomposites, In Situ Polymerization, Bulk Polymerization, Nano SiO₂

Samarth, N. , Mehta, L. , Kamble, V. , Kulkarni, M. and Mahanwar, P. (2016) Thermal Stability and Crystallinity Study of Polystyrene/SiO₂ Nano-Composites Synthesis via Microwave-Assisted In Situ Polymerization. Open Journal of Synthesis Theory and Applications, 5, 15-23. doi: 10.4236/ojsta.2016.52002.