ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Thermooxidative stability of polymethyl methacrylate containing nanoparticles of silica/titania and silica/zirconia

Peter Šimon, Wei Zhong, Dušan Bakoš, and David Hynek

Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

E-mail: peter.simon@stuba.sk

Received: 24 March 2007  Revised: 13 July 2007  Accepted: 20 July 2007

Abstract: The influence of silica/titania and silica/zirconia nanoparticles on thermooxidative degradation of PMMA was studied by non-isothermal thermogravimetry. Kinetic parameters describing the length of the oxidation induction periods were obtained from the treatment of the dependence of oxidation onset temperature on heating rate. Using these parameters, the protection factors of nanoparticles have been calculated. It was found that SiO₂/TiO₂ nanoparticles increase the thermooxidation stability of PMMA where the stabilizing effect, expressed as the protection factor, depends on temperature only slightly. The stabilizing effect of SiO₂/ZrO₂ is much stronger than that of SiO₂/TiO₂ and decreases with increasing temperature.

Keywords: thermooxidation - polymethyl methacrylate - nanoparticles - silica - titania - zirconia

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-008-0008-0

Chemical Papers 62 (2) 176–180 (2008)