Cationic Photopolymerization in Presence of Functionalized Silica Nanoparticles

The present study focuses on the synthesis of various silica-filled polymer nanocomposites via cationic photopolymerization. The first part describes the chemical modification of fumed silica nanoparticles and their subsequent incorporation in three types of epoxy resins. (29)Si CP MAS NMR spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) enabled to characterize the surface structural composition of silica while dynamic light scattering (DLS) was employed to assess their degree of dispersion. In addition, the photopolymerization kinetics were investigated using real-time Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (RT-FTIR). The capacity of reinforcement of the resulting nanocomposite films were explored in regard to modulus, glass transition behaviour, abrasion resistance and hardness.