Development of PMMA/Silica Hybrid and Its Material Properties
Yaqin FU, Qing-Qing NI, Ken KURASHIKI and Masaharu IWAMOTO
Abstract:PMMA/Silica hybrids were innovated by in-situ polymerization from methyl methacrylate and tetraethyl orthosilicate with hydroxypropyl acrylate as a coupling agent. The obtained PMMA/silica innovation materials were investigated from material structure, transparency and thermal/mechanical properties. The hardness, elasticity modulus, wear and thermal properties of the materials deeply depend on the situation with or without a catalyst. This was resulted from bond type formed during the hybridization. Based on FT-IR analysis, it was shown that the covalent bonds were formed between organic matrix and silica under an acid catalyst, while the covalent bonds and hydrogen bonds were formed if there was no catalyst. These results indicated that changing catalyst and the amount of silica could control the material properties and the inner structures. Key Words:Poly(methyl methacrylate)/Silica hybrid, Sol-gel, No catalyst, Acid catalyst