Organic-Inorganic Hydrophobic Nanocomposite Film with a Core-Shell Structure

Abstract

A method to prepare novel organic-inorganic hydrophobic nanocomposite films was proposed by a site-specific polymerization process. The inorganic part, the core of the nanocomposite, is a ternary SiO2–Al2O3–TiO2 nanoparticles, which is grafted with methacryloxy propyl trimethoxyl silane (KH570), and wrapped by fluoride and siloxane polymers. The synthesized samples are characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrscopy, X-ray diffractometry (XRD), contact angle meter (CA), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results indicate that the novel organic-inorganic hydrophobic nanocomposite with a core-shell structure was synthesized successfully. XRD analysis reveals the nanocomposite film has an amorphous structure, and FTIR analysis indicates the nanoparticles react with a silane coupling agent (methacryloxy propyl trimethoxyl silane KH570). Interestingly, the morphology of the nanoparticle film is influenced by the composition of the core. Further, comparing with the film synthesized by silica nanoparticles, the film formed from SiO2–Al2O3–TiO2 nanoparticles has higher hydrophobic performance, i.e., the contact angle is greater than 101.7°. In addition, the TEM analysis reveals that the crystal structure of the particles can be changed at high temperatures.

Multifunctional silk fabric via surface modification of nano-SiO2

“…In this way, the crosslink effects among water, KH570 and nano-SiO 2 on silk fiber were detected. The spectra of Blank (spectrum a) and Water (spectrum b) are similar, exhibiting a broad bending vibration adsorption peak of water (3295.8 cm –1 ), 30 and conformation peaks at 1648.7 cm –1 (amide I) and 1527.9 cm –1 (amide II) 31 are assigned to random coils and β-sheets. These two conformation peaks are also seen in the spectrum of SiO 2 @KH570 (spectrum c), which indicates that the basic secondary structure of the silk fabrics were not changed by nano-SiO 2 treatment.…”

Biogenic Synthesis of Fluorescent Carbon Dots (CDs) and Their Application in Bioimaging of Agricultural Crops

“…Nanotechnology has promising applications in diagnostic biomarkers, cell labeling, contrast agents for biological imaging, microbiocidal agents, and a vehicle for drug delivery systems for the treatment of various diseases [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. There are several fluorescent nanomaterials (NMs) such as fluorescently doped silica and sol-gels [ 8 ], hydrophilic polymers (hydrogels) [ 9 , 10 ], semiconducting polymer dots [ 11 ], quantum dots, carbon dots [ 12 ], other carbonaceous nanomaterials, hydrophobic organic polymers [ 13 , 14 ], up-conversion NPs [ 15 ], various other nanomaterials like noble metal NPs (mainly gold and silver) [ 16 , 17 , 18 ], and dendrimers [ 19 ] that have been reported for their application in bioimaging [ 20 , 21 ]. Other applications of CDs include heavy metal sensing and antimicrobials [ 22 , 23 ]; antibiotic carriers; and fluorescent probes [ 24 ].…”