Preparation of MWCNTs/Poly(methyl methacrylate) Composite Particles via the Emulsion Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate Using MWCNTs Modified by Silanization Reaction and Their Morphological Characteristics

In this study, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were oxidized with a mixture of nitric acid and sulfuric acid. After oxidation, oxidized MWCNTs were treated with thionyl chloride (SOCl2) and 1,4-butanediol (BD) in sequence at room temperature to introduce hydroxyl groups on the surface of MWCNTs. The prepared MWCNT-OH was silanized with 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxylsilane (MPTMS) to make MWCNT-MPTMS. The MWCNT-MPTMS was used as fillers in emulsion polymerization to make MWCNT-MPTMS/PMMA composite particles with 3 kinds of emulsifiers, hexadecyltrimethylammoniumbromide (CTAB) as a cationic, sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) as an anionic and polyethylene glycol tert-octylphenyl ether (Triton X-114) as a nonionic emulsifier. Morphologies of composite emulsions were confirmed by a particle size analyzer (PSA) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Morphologies of emulsion polymerized MWCNT-MPTMS/PMMA with SDBS showed more uniform particle size distribution compared to those of other two emulsifiers used emulsions. MWCNT-MPTMS/PMMA showed 3.4 degrees C higher T-g compared to pristine MWCNT/PMMA due to covalent bond formation at interface of MWCNT-MPTMS and PMMA.