Study on acrylic resin/titania organic-inorganic hybrid materials prepared by the sol-gel process

Acrylic resin/titania organic-inorganic hybrid materials were prepared by the two approaches. One approach (BL method) was blending titania produced by the sol-gel process with synthesized acrylic resins containing various content of acrylic acid (AA). Another approach (IS method) was the in situ polymerization of acrylic monomers in synthesized titania sols. The structure and mechanical, thermal and optical properties of the hybrid films were investigated by small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), Instron testing machine, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-VIS), respectively. Titania phase in the hybrids showed an open structure and nano-scale size. However, aggregation of titania occurred in the systems prepared by IS method or without AA contained. The mechanical properties, thermal stability and UV shielding properties of organic polymer were obviously improved with titania networks embedded. It was found that BL method could prepare homogeneous hybrids with better integrative mechanical properties in comparison with IS method. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.