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Effect of vinyl-modified silica and raw silica particles on the properties of as-prepared polymer-silica nanocomposite foams.

In this study, the first comparative studies for the effect of vinyl-modified silica (VMS) and raw silica (RS) particles on the physical properties of as-prepared polymer-silica nanocomposite (PSN) foams are presented. First of all, the VMS particles were synthesized by performing conventional acid-catalyzed sol-gel reactions of TEOS in the presence/absence of MSMA molecules. The as-prepared VMS particles were then characterized through Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), solid-state 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance (13C-NMR) and 29Si-NMR spectroscopy. Subsequently, a series of PSN materials have been prepared through bulk polymerization of MMA monomers in the presence of VMS and RS particles with BPO as initiator. The dispersion capability of silica particles in polymer matrix was further observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies. The PSN foams can be further obtained by performing batch-foaming process on as-prepared bulky PSN materials with N2 as foaming agent. The cell structure analysis of the PSN foams was subsequently examined by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) was used to determine the molecular weights of as-prepared samples. It should be noted that the incorporated VMS and RS particles served as heterogeneous nucleation agent in polymer matrix under foaming process to reduce the cell size and increase the cell density of the PSN foams. Furthermore, the VMS particles exhibited a better dispersion capability of silica particles in PMMA matrix as compared to that of RS particles, leading to the PSN foams with smaller cell size and higher cell density. Effect of material composition on the thermal transport properties, thermal stability and mechanical strength of PSN foams were investigated by transient plane source (TPS) technique, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), respectively.