Synthesis and Characterization of Poly(oxyethylene methacrylate) Coated TiO2NanoparticlesviaSurface Thiol-Lactam Initiated Radical Polymerization

Abstract Poly(oxyethylene methacrylate) (POEM) anchored TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized via the surface thiol-lactam initiated radical polymerization of POEM in the presence of thiol functionalized TiO2 nanoparticles. The grafting of POEM onto the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles was investigated by FT-IR, XPS, EDX, TGA, XRD, and TEM analyses. The experimental findings suggested that a strong interaction prevailed between grafted POEM and TiO2 nanoparticles. The TEM image of POEM-g-TiO2 showed that the agglomeration propensity of TiO2 nanoparticles was reduced significantly upon the functionalization of POEM. Moreover, an improved thermal property of the POEM in the POEM-g-TiO2 nanocomposites was observed by TGA. Keywords: TiO2 nanoparticlesPOEMpolymer brushPOEM-g-TiO2 core-shell structuresurface initiated polymerization Acknowledgments This work was financially supported by the grant from the Industrial Source Technology Development Program (Project No.10035163) of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE) of Korea and the second stage of the BK21 program.