Morphology, mechanical properties and thermal degradation kinetics of PMMA-zirconia nanocomposites prepared by melt compounding

Zirconia nanoparticles were synthesized by means of a sol-gel method and embedded in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) by melt compounding. The zirconia was well dispersed in the PMMA matrix, with only a few clusters, especially for the highest investigated zirconia content. NMR results showed heteronuclear dipolar interactions involving the carbons and the surrounding hydrogen nuclei. The effect of the amount of zirconia, in the range of 1-5 wt%, on the thermo-mechanical properties and thermal degradation kinetics of PMMA was also investigated by means of dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), thermogravimetric analyses (TGA), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The presence of zirconia showed a decrease in the storage and loss moduli at lower temperatures, probably due to a plasticization effect. The presence of zirconia in PMMA slightly increased its thermal stability, but the activation energies of thermal degradation for the nanocomposites were significantly lower, at degrees of conversion higher than 0.3, than those of pure PMMA.