화학공학소재연구정보센터
Polymer Engineering and Science, Vol.52, No.3, 637-642, 2012
Nanoparticle encapsulation by a polymer via in situ polymerization in supercritical conditions
The encapsulation of aluminum nanoparticles by polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) was carried out in supercritical conditions via in situ polymerization. The aluminum particles possessed an average diameter of 43.7 nm. The presence of PVDF on the particles was validated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). This result was further approved by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), which showed high intensity peaks of fluorine and carbon on the particles after the encapsulation process, which are associated with the presence of hydrocarbon-based PVDF. As observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images, the nanoparticles were uniformly coated by a polymer of a few nanometers in thickness. The results showed that there is a good consistency between the calculated thickness of the polymer coating and the results obtained by TEM. In addition, the effect of polymerization time on the kinetics of the reaction was investigated. Finally, it was found that the thickness of the polymer layer can be controlled by the duration of the encapsulation process. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2012. (c) 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers