Beads Mill-Assisted Synthesis of Poly Methyl Methacrylate (PMMA)-TiO₂ Nanoparticle Composites

Abstract

A newly developed beads mill was used to create well-dispersed suspensions of TiO2 (titania) nanoparticles in methyl methacrylate (MMA) and TiO2−PMMA nanocomposites were synthesized by subsequent polymerization of the TiO2−MMA suspension. Beads milling successfully broke up titania nanoparticle agglomerates with the addition of the coupling agent (3-acryloxypropyl) trimethoxysilane (APTMOS) to the titania−MMA suspension. Agglomerated particles were broken up into primary particles as small as 10 nm in suspensions with nanoparticle mass fractions as high as 0.05. Well-dispersed suspensions of titania nanoparticles had reduced UV transmission but visible light transmittance similar to pure MMA. TEM images showed that the milled nanoparticles remained well dispersed in titania−PMMA nanocomposites, and the addition of titania nanoparticles to PMMA increased the PMMA thermal stability. Spin-coated titania−PMMA films had higher refractive indices than pure PMMA films, with film of higher titania weight percent having higher refractive indices.