Issue 39, 2024

Dynamics of poly(methyl acrylate)/poly(methyl methacrylate)-grafted-Fe3O4 nanocomposites

Abstract

We investigated the dynamics of nanocomposites prepared through mixing poly(methyl methacrylate) grafted Fe3O4 nanoparticles (PMMA-g-Fe3O4) with poly(methyl acrylate) (PMA). A key feature here different from previous dynamics measurements of polymer nanocomposites is the different chemistry between the matrix polymer and the polymer grafts, which introduces chemical heterogeneity. Transmission electron microscopy shows clear evidence of nanoparticle clustering due to the poor miscibility between the bulk PMA and the bulk PMMA. At the same time, broadband dielectric spectroscopy measurements detect two leading relaxations, i.e. the α and α* processes, where the α process is associated with the bulk PMA and the α* process from the PMA interacting with the grafted PMMA in the nanoparticle clustering region. Interestingly, the characteristic time of α*, τα*, is slightly slower than that of the α, τα, at high temperatures, and exhibits near Arrhenius temperature dependence at low temperatures. As a result, τα* and τα cross each other in the activation plot upon cooling and τα*τα is observed at temperatures approaching the glass transition temperature of PMA. These observations suggest the presence of component dynamics and the dynamics confinement effect between PMA and PMMA in the nanoparticle clustering region, highlighting an active interaction between PMA and PMMA at the interface despite their poor miscibility. These results thus suggest new routes to control interface dynamics through immiscible polymer pairs.

Graphical abstract: Dynamics of poly(methyl acrylate)/poly(methyl methacrylate)-grafted-Fe3O4 nanocomposites

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 Jun 2024
Accepted
14 Sep 2024
First published
19 Sep 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Soft Matter, 2024,20, 7970-7982

Dynamics of poly(methyl acrylate)/poly(methyl methacrylate)-grafted-Fe3O4 nanocomposites

S. Patil, C. Mbonu, T. Chou, R. Li, D. Wu, P. Akcora and S. Cheng, Soft Matter, 2024, 20, 7970 DOI: 10.1039/D4SM00731J

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