Influence of in situ photo-induced silver nanoparticles on the ageing of acrylate materials

Abstract

The present work aims to investigate the impact of a low amount of photo-induced silver nanoparticles (0.2 and 0.4 wt.% of Ag NPs) on the stability of acrylate materials (carriers of ester and ether groups) under the combined effect of oxygen and light. Different techniques were implemented to monitor the structural changes at different scales. The determination of the influence of AgNPs required a preliminary investigation of the pure acrylate polymer under the same experimental conditions. The polymer underwent a post-polymerization of the residual vinyl groups and a photo-oxidative degradation. This degradation induced chemical modifications evidenced by infrared spectroscopy and architectural changes resulting from chain scission reactions. These reactions were not only responsible for the steaming of volatile organic compounds, detected by HS-SPME/GC-MS but also for the increase in mesh size controlled by thermoporosimetry. As regards the polymer/Ag NPs composite, the higher the amount of filler dispersed in the matrix, the greater the rate of degradation. This behaviour was due to the photocatalytic effect of Ag NPs, regardless of the loading in nanoparticles. As a result of irradiation, the nanoparticles migrate to the surface of the film and coalesce, thus inducing an increase in size distribution and a gradient structuring as revealed by TEM analysis. The outcomes of this investigation are important for the development of new composite material with new functionalities (antibacterial, optical, conductive properties) for industrial applications as in textile industry.

Enhancing the Properties of Photo-Generated Metallized Nanocomposite Coatings through Thermal Annealing

“…Southward et al observed such behavior when heating a non-conductive surface (Ag/polyimide films), from 300 • C to 340 • C, to form a conductive surface [7]. Moreover, the spherical Ag nanoparticles aggregated into more elongated shapes, as also shown by Bhattacharyya et al [34] and, more recently, by Zouari et al [35], which eventually created the Ag network found near the upper surface of the nanocomposite coating.…”

“…It is interesting to note that the Ag/C ratio rose from 0.1 to 2.1 upon thermal annealing; this confirms the redistribution of these elements to the first nanometers of the surface of the sample. Furthermore, the possible decomposition of the polymer binder [ 35 ] could also indirectly contribute to the increase in the relative ratio of Ag in the surface layer.…”

Antimicrobial and mechanical properties of functionalized textile by nanoarchitectured photoinduced Ag@polymer coating

“…Nevertheless, this growth is lesser than that of the control culture for the C. albicans microorganism, suggesting that the polymer matrix releases one or more compounds capable of inhibiting fungal growth. In a previous study [ 51 ], we demonstrated that the polymer matrix is capable of releasing several organic compounds due to photodegradation, including formic acid. This weak acid has been shown to exhibit antifungal properties.…”

Plasmon Active Functional Coatings with Hybrid Bimetallic Nanoparticles@Polymers by a Single Step Photoinduced Approach

“…To avoid the use of harmful products or processes, a photoinduced approach has been developed to synthesize monometallic NPs in a photopolymerizable matrix by combining the photoinduced synthesis of metal NPs and the photo-cross-linking of monomers. − …”