Development of PMMA/Silica Hybrid and Its Material Properties

Abstract

PMMA/Silica hybrids were innovated by in-situ polymerization from methyl methacrylate and tetraethyl orthosilicate with hydroxypropyl acrylate as a coupling agent. The obtained PMMA/silica innovation materials were investigated from material structure, transparency and thermal/mechanical properties. The hardness, elasticity modulus, wear and thermal properties of the materials deeply depend on the situation with or without a catalyst. This was resulted from bond type formed during the hybridization. Based on FT-IR analysis, it was shown that the covalent bonds were formed between organic matrix and silica under an acid catalyst, while the covalent bonds and hydrogen bonds were formed if there was no catalyst. These results indicated that changing catalyst and the amount of silica could control the material properties and the inner structures.