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Investigating the Effect of Silica Aerogel Nanoparticles on the Kinetics of AGET ATRP of Methyl Methacrylate

Abstract Hexamethyldisilazane-modified silica aerogel nanoparticles were used for in situ polymerization of methyl methacrylate by activators generated by electron transfer for atom transfer radical polymerization (AGET ATRP) to synthesize tailor-made PMMA nanocomposites. Appropriate dispersion of silica aerogel nanoparticles in the monomer solution and improvement in interfacial interaction between the PMMA matrix and nanoparticles are two main reasons for application of HMDS-modified silica aerogel nanoparticles. Nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherm was employed to examine surface area and structural characteristics of the HMDS-modified silica aerogel nanoparticles. Evaluation of size distribution and morphological studies were also performed by SEM and TEM. Conversion and molecular weight determinations were carried out using GC and SEC, respectively. Addition of 3 wt% HMDS-modified silica aerogel nanoparticles leads to decrement of conversion from 85 to 64%. Molecular weight of PMMA chains also decreases from 13,912 to 10,810 g⋅mol−1 by addition of only 3 wt% HMDS-modified silica aerogel nanoparticles; however, polydispersity index values increases from 1.18 to 1.51. Linear increase of ln(M0/M) with time for all the samples shows that polymerization proceeds in a living manner. In addition, suitable agreement between theoretical and experimental molecular weight in combination with low PDI values can appropriately demonstrate the living nature of the polymerization. TGA results indicate that by increasing HMDS-modified silica aerogel nanoparticles content, slight improvements in thermal stability of the nanocomposites were obtained. DSC results show a decrease in Tg from 86.9 to 80.1°C by addition of 3 wt% HMDS-modified silica aerogel nanoparticles.