Improvement of the Mechanical Properties of Nano-TiO2/Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) Composites by Enhanced Interaction Between Nanofiller and Matrix

摘要

Surface-carboxylated nano-TiO2 was used to prepare poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanocomposites to improve the dispersity of nano-TiO2 particles in PVA and to enhance the interaction between nanofiller and matrix. The effects of the extents of carboxylation and car-boxylated nano-TiO2 loading on mechanical properties of the nanocomposites were investigated. The results show that the tensile strength of the nanocomposites was greatly improved, both by increasing the carboxy-lated nano-TiO2 loading and by the extent of carboxylation of the nanoparticles, compared with unmodified nano-TiO2. The storage modulus within the rubbery state increased and the loss tangent decreased with increasing — COOH content on the TiO2 surface and with increasing carboxylated nano-TiO2 loading. These observations were attributed to a high dispersion of modified nano-TiO2 in the PVA matrix and to crosslink-ing between —OH groups in PVA chains and —COOH moieties on inorganic nanoparticle surfaces.