Smith, G.N. orcid.org/0000-0002-0074-5657, Hallett, J.E., Joseph, P. et al. (4 more authors) (2017) Structural studies of thermally stable, combustion-resistant polymer composites. Polymer Journal, 49. pp. 711-719. ISSN 0032-3896
Abstract
Composites of the industrially important polymer, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), were prepared by free-radical polymerization of MMA with varying amounts (1–30 wt. %) of sodium dioctylsulfosuccinate (Aerosol OT or AOT) surfactant added to the reaction mixture. The composites with AOT incorporated show enhanced resistance to thermal degradation compared to pure PMMA homopolymer, and micro-cone combustion calorimetry measurements also show that the composites are combustion-resistant. The physical properties of the polymers, particularly at low concentrations of surfactant, are not significantly modified by the incorporation of AOT, whereas the degradation is modified considerably for even the smallest concentration of AOT (1 wt. %). Structural analyses over very different lengthscales were performed. X-ray scattering was used to determine nm-scale structure, and scanning electron microscopy was used to determine μm-scale structure. Two self-assembled species were observed: large phase-separated regions of AOT using electron microscopy and regions of hexagonally packed rods of AOT using X-ray scattering. Therefore, the combustion resistance is observed whenever AOT self-assembles. These results demonstrate a promising method of physically incorporating a small organic molecule to obtain a highly thermally stable and combustion-resistant material without significantly changing the properties of the polymer.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 Nature Publishing Group. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Polymer Journal. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Chemistry (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 18 Oct 2017 09:46 |
Last Modified: | 06 Mar 2018 01:39 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1038/pj.2017.44 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Nature Publishing Group |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/pj.2017.44 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:122563 |