Conductive ATO‐acrylate nanocomposite hybrid coatings: Experimental results and modeling

Abstract

The electrical volume conductivity r of antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO)-acrylate nanocomposite hybrid coatings was investigated. The relation between r and the volume filler fraction p was analyzed for the ATO-acrylate coatings containing ATO nanoparticles grafted with different amounts of 3-methacryloxy-propyl-trimethoxy-silane coupling agent. Percolation thresholds were observed at very low filler fractions (1-2 vol %) for the coatings containing ATO nanoparticles with a low amount of surface grafting. A modified effective medium approximation (EMA) model was introduced. This model takes into consideration different distances between adjacent semiconductive particles in the particle network. The model elucidates how self-arrangement of the particles influences the location of the percolation threshold in the log r À p plot. The modified EMA model can successfully explain the multiple transition behavior and the variable percolation thresholds found for the ATO-acrylate nanocomposite hybrid coatings. V V C 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45:

Photocatalysed (Meth)acrylate Polymerization by (Antimony-Doped) Tin Oxide Nanoparticles and Photoconduction of Their Crosslinked Polymer Nanoparticle Composites

“…To be certain that these particles are well dispersed in the acrylate monomer before and during irradiation the surfaces of these particles are grafted with MPS. It is well-known that this methacrylate surface modification prevents the agglomeration of the Sb:SnO 2 (Sb ≥ 0%) nanoparticles in the monomer mixture before and during the curing of the acrylate matrix and that even at low particle concentration particle networks are formed during cure ( Figure 1) [1,4,28].…”

“…Spherical nanoparticles of antimony-doped tin oxide (Sb: SnO 2 ) can be used to provide semiconducting properties to insulating polymers. This change in properties occurs when these particles form a percolating network structure through the polymer matrix [1][2][3][4][5][6] at a filler concentration higher than the percolation threshold. In a number of scouting experiments in which we studied the rate of curing of such Sb:SnO 2 )/acrylate formulations, we noticed that in the absence of an organic photoinitiator UV curing also occurred.…”

“…It has been shown before that in the presence of an standard organic photoinitiator Sb:SnO 2 /acrylate formulations are polymerized when these formulations are irradiated with UV light [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Most of these authors assume that the presence of the organic photoinitiator is essential for the occurrence of these photocatalyzed reactions.…”

Photocatalytic Properties of Tin Oxide and Antimony-Doped Tin Oxide Nanoparticles

“…Therefore, in general, starting formulations containing MPS grafted Sb : SnO 2 particles were used. The amount of methacrylate (MPS) moieties grafted on the surface of our Sb : SnO 2 particles surface and the amount of methacrylate (MPS) oligomer present in the starting formulation depend on the MPS/Sb : SnO 2 ratio used in the grafting reaction (Schemes 2 and 3) [2,12,22,25]. It has been shown that these amounts are hardly influenced by the surface and bulk composition of our Sb : SnO 2 nanoparticles (Scheme 3).…”

“…Hence, in this work well-characterized Sb : SnO 2 nanoparticles of varying composition, but with similar nanoparticle sizes and crystallinities, are used (Table 1). To be certain that these particles are well dispersed before and during irradiation in the acrylate monomer their surfaces were grafted in advance with MPS [13,14,25]. PEGDA 575 was chosen as acrylate monomer to minimize the influence of viscosity variations on the rate of the acrylate polymerization during irradiation.…”