Investigation of thermal, mechanical and electrochemical properties of nanocomposites based on CuO modified poly(vinyl chloride)/poly(methyl methacrylate) blend

The preparation of binary polymer blend nanocomposites with different nanomaterials is a relatively new approach to achieve desired physical, thermal, mechanical, and electrochemical properties because it has the collective effects of both polymer blending and fillers. Transition metal oxides constitute a large class among those fillers because the precursors for metal oxides are abundantly available. However, very few studies have been accomplished on incorporating transition metal oxides into binary polymer blends. In this project, cuprous oxide (CuO) nanoparticles (NPs) with a crystallite size of 24.95 nm were incorporated into poly(vinyl chloride)/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PVC/PMMA) blend, and thin films of the nanocomposites were obtained through a solution casting technique. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, universal testing machine testing, thermogravimetric analysis, and cyclic voltammetry were used to study morphological, crystalline, mechanical, thermal, and electrochemical properties of the nanocomposites. Scanning electron micrographs showed that the blend was completely miscible and CuO NPs were well dispersed within the matrix. Mechanical properties greatly improved with each wt% addition of CuO NPs. Thermogravimetric analysis thermograms revealed a two-stage degradation for neat PVC/PMMA blend and CuO/PVC/PMMA. Cyclic voltammetry results indicated a free electron transfer in neat blend that further improved with the incorporation of increasing percentage of CuO NPs. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 23:80–85, 2017.