The effect of the coupling agents KH550 and KH570 on the nanostructure and interfacial interaction of zinc oxide/chiral poly(amide–imide) nanocomposites containing l-leucine amino acid moieties

In this article, a series of optically active poly(amide–imide)/zinc oxide nanocomposites (PAI/ZnO NCs) with different ZnO contents were prepared by ultrasonic technique. For better dispersion of nanoparticles (NPs) in the PAI matrix, their surface was modified with two different silane coupling agents. Then, the effects of two linkers on dispersity of NPs, thermal stability and UV–Visible spectra of resulting NCs were investigated. The morphological structures, thermal, and UV properties of the prepared NCs with two different coupling agents were studied by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron micrograph, field emission scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and UV–Visible analysis. These data demonstrated that the surface-modified ZnO NPs were homogeneously dispersed in the PAI matrix. However, in the case of KH570 the better dispersity is more pronounced.