Synthesis, characterization and properties of halogen-free flame retardant PMMA nanocomposites containing nitrogen/silicon prepared from the Sol-Gel method

The investigation addresses the feasibility of preparing PMMA hybrid. MMA reacted with MA using AIBN initiator to form the copolymer in a free radical reaction. APTS was then reacted with the copolymer to synthesize the precursor, which has an OEt functional group and thus participates in the sol-gel reaction. HMMM and TEOS were added to the precursor to form networks with an organic-inorganic structure by the sol-gel method. FTIR was adopted to monitor the curing of the hybrid and NMR was employed to characterize the structure of the composites. The results demonstrate that the sol-gel reaction proceeded completely, and that networks had formed. SEM and EDS were applied to observe the morphology of nanocomposites and the particles were smaller than 100 nm. Accordingly, the nanocomposites had been successfully prepared. UV/vis spectroscopy was utilized to evaluate the transparency of nanocomposites and the results demonstrate that the composites have high transparency. Hence, the organic and inorganic phases are highly mutually compatible. TGA and LOI were applied to elucidate the thermal properties and flame retardance. The data indicate that the composites exhibited excellent thermal stability and flame retardance.