Synthesis of Polymethylstyrene/Zink Oxide (ZnO) Nanoparticles Nanocomposite by In Situ Polymerization

In this study، zinc oxide/polymethylstyrene (PMSt) nanocomposite was prepared by in situ radical polymerization method. The applied ZnO nanoparticles were prepared by precipitation method. The obtained samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) continuously and the average crystallite size of nanoparticles was calculated and a crystallite diameter of 23 nm was obtained. The surface of ZnO nanoparticles was modified by silane coupling agent to obtain a good dispersion and to improve compatibility between inorganic nanoparticles and organic matrix. The modified ZnO nanoparticles were dispersed in methylstyrene and in situ radical polymerization were carried out in the presence of 2، 2’-azobisisobutyronitrile. The prepared materials were characterized by XRD، SEM، TEM، FT-IR، UV-Vis، and 1HNMR techniques. The effect of ZnO nanoparticles on the thermal properties and glass transition temperature of PMSt was investigated using thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) techniques.