Preparation and properties of cyclo‐olefin copolymer/titania hybrids

Abstract

Abstract A series of organic–inorganic hybrid materials consisting of an organic cyclo‐olefin copolymer (COC) and inorganic titania (TiO 2 ) were successfully synthesized by a sol–gel process. TiO 2 was obtained through the hydrolysis of titanium n ‐butoxide (TNBT) with the catalysis of HCl. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis indicated that the glass‐transition temperature of the hybrids was higher than that of pure COC, and it rose significantly as the TNBT content was increased from 1 to 15 wt %. Scanning electron microscopy observations showed that the morphology of fractured surfaces of the COC/TiO 2 hybrid with 5 wt % TNBT was a single homogeneous phase, indicating that the miscibility between COC and TiO 2 was good for the hybrids. According to ultraviolet–visible analysis, the transmittance of pure COC at 550 nm was high up to 91.7%. The light transmittance of the COC/TiO 2 hybrids was still higher than 80% with the TNBT content up to 5 wt %. The decomposition temperatures of the hybrids, investigated with thermogravimetric analysis, were not affected significantly by the addition of TNBT. The oxygen barrier property of the hybrid films showed significant improvements in comparison with pure COC. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008