Cinnamic acid-functionalized ZnO nanoparticles for constructing UV-shielding and mechanically robust polyvinyl butyral composites

Biomolecule cinnamic acid (CNA) was chemically grafted on the surface of ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO Nps) via (3Aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane (KH550) as the linkage to obtain a novel UV-shielding material CNA-mZnO. It was found that CNA-mZnO exhibits stronger UV absorption property than pure ZnO. Moreover, CNA-mZnO could be homogeneously dispersed in polyvinyl butyral (PVB) matrix. As expected, the introduction of CNA-mZnO gives a positive effect on the UV-shielding performance and mechanical properties of PVB matrix. Particularly, the PVB with 2 wt% CNA-mZnO achieved a dramatically improved UV-shielding performance with UV shielding efficiency more than 99% below 370 nm, along with satisfactory visible transmittance. Meanwhile, the maximum tensile strength of PVB/CNA-mZnO composite were approximately 50% enhancement than pure PVB. More importantly, the PVB/CNA-mZnO composites also possess the excellent anti-UV aging performance and exhibit high retention of mechanical properties after UV exposure for 96 h. This work proposed a new strategy to prepare UV-shielding and mechanically robust composites by introducing natural biomoleculefunctionalized ZnO Nps, which may greatly promote their applications in packing, intelligent windows and optical devices.

Automated summary

The introduction of CNA-mZnO into PVB matrix significantly enhances UV-shielding performance and mechanical properties. PVB/CNA-mZnO composites exhibit excellent anti-UV aging performance and maintain good mechanical properties even after UV exposure for 96 hours.