Preparation and characterization of poly(methyl methacrylate)/SiO2 organic-inorganic hybrid materials via RAFT-mediated miniemulsion Polymerization

Poly(methyl methacrylate)/SiO2 (PMMA/SiO2) organic-inorganic hybrid materials were prepared by traditional free radical polymerization and RAFT polymerization in miniemulsion. Comparison of these two reactions kinetics results indicated the polymerization behavior of methyl methacrylate (MMA) with control of the RAFT mechanism showed controlled/living radical polymerization (CLRP) characteristics. The hybrid materials were characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Incorporation of the RAFT agent and SiO2 nanoparticles can effectively improve the thermal properties of PMMA polymers. TEM results showed that part of the SiO2 nanoparticles adsorbed on the surface of the PMMA latex particles and formed hybrid materials with partially wrapped structure.