Abstract:
PMMA-SiO₂ nanocomposite emulsion was successfully synthesized via a combining reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) emulsion polymerization and differential microemulsion polymerization (DMP). The effects of macro-RAFT agent concentration and silica loading on the monomer conversion, average particle size and silica encapsulation efficiency were investigated. The PMMA-SiO₂ nanocomposites with high monomer conversion and average particle size of 57.6 nm were obtained at a low silica loading (10% by weight of monomer). The TEM morphology of PMMA-SiO₂ nanocomposites exhibited the nanosized core-shell structure. The NR/PMMA-SiO₂ membrane was prepared by a direct blending, resulting in the improvement of thermal and mechanical properties of PMMA-SiO₂ nanocomposites in hybrid membrane. Moreover, in pervaporation process application, the PMMA-SiO₂ nanocomposites could improve the water permeability with great separation efficiency in hybrid membrane by increasing the hydrophilicity of NR phase. Thus, the PMMA-SiO₂ nanocomposites show the great potential to be used as effective filler in membrane for high performance separation technology.