Abstract. Herein, we are reporting increased thermal properties and self-sustaining ability of polymer compositions with silica. The composite of poly (acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) [P(AM-co-AA)] with silica created intermolecular interactions. The formation of a composite has confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy, DSC, TGA, and FE-SEM analysis. The silica particles were homogeneously distributed in the P(AM-co-AA). The incorporation of silica particles gives rise to the enhancement of thermal stability due to the strong interactions between silica and poly (acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) polymer.
Graphical AbstractKeywords: Poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid), silica particles, composite, thermal stability
IntroductionPolymer composites have been widely studied over a long period of time and over the past few decades, organic polymer-inorganic oxide filler composites have replaced a lot of the conventional polymers in application fields. They are generally organic polymer composites filled with inorganic fillers. Their properties combine the advantages of the inorganic filler material (i. e., rigidity, thermal stability) and of the organic polymer (i.e., flexibility, ductility, process ability) [1]. In addition to such functionalization, composition can successfully reinforce materials; a characteristic example is natural rubbers reinforced by carbon black and silica for practical utilizing as tire materials. Although the composites strategy is useful for the design of relatively hard functional materials, it is not simple to recognize soft composite materials because of the strong interactions at the interface that decrease the polymer chain mobility [2]. A successful way to improve mechanical properties of a polymer is to create their composites or blend with other polymers that have better mechanical properties for the intended applications [3]. Schmidt et al. synthesised conductive composites of polymer using the biologically active polysaccharide hyaluronic acid (HA) as the dopant in order to create biomaterials for tissue engineering and wound-healing applications [4].Among inorganic oxide fillers, silica particles have received much attention due to their well-defined ordered structure, high surface area, cost-effective production, and the ease of surface modification [5]. In the polymer composition with silica particles, this can improve thermal properties and self-sustaining