Preparation and Characterization of the Transparent Hybrids of Silicone Epoxy Resin and Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles via Sol–Gel Reactions

Abstract

In order to prepare transparent hybrid films of high refractive index, nanoparticles of TiO2 were prepared and dispersed in a silicone epoxy (SE) resin synthesized from diphenyl silane diol and [2-(3,4-epoxycyclohexyl)ethyl] trimethoxysilane by sol-gel reactions. It was found that amorphous TiO2 nanoparticles of about 5 nm modified with hexahydro-4-methyl phthalic anhydride [HMPA] were dispersed in the SE resin without agglomerations. The refractive index of the hybrids increased linearly with increasing the TiO2 contents. The hybrid containing 30 wt% of the TiO2 particles showed light transmittance of 94% at 450 nm and refractive index of 1.63. The fine dispersion of the TiO2 nanoparticles was attributable to the sol-gel reactions between the SE resin and TiO2 nanoparticles and the modification of the TiO2 particles with HMPA.

Interaction of Polyphenylsilsesquioxane with Various β-Diketonate Complexes of Titanium by Mechanochemical Activation

“…Titanesiloxanes can also be obtained by mixing titanium dioxide nanoparticles with a readymade polymer matrix, as performed by the authors of [35][36][37][38], by sol-gel synthesis based on titanium alkoxides [39][40][41]. The processes of direct interaction of titanium alkoxides with hydromethylsiloxane, as well as cleavage of the siloxane bond in the copolymer hydromethylsiloxane-phenylmethylsiloxane under the action of tetrabutoxytitanium, have been studied [42].…”

Interaction of Polyphenylsilsesquioxane With Various β-diketonate Complexes of Titanium By Mechanochemical Activation

“…Titanesiloxanes can also be obtained by mixing titanium dioxide nanoparticles with a ready-made polymer matrix, as it was done by the authors of works [30][31][32][33], by sol-gel synthesis based on titanium alkoxides [34][35][36]. The processes of direct interaction of titanium alkoxides with hydromethylsiloxane, as well as cleavage of the siloxane bond in the copolymer hydromethylsiloxane-phenylmethylsiloxane under the action of tetrabutoxytitanium, have been studied [37].…”

Reactions of titanium alkoxide with SiH containing polymers as a route to titanium/siloxane hybrid materials with enhanced refractive index

“…Titania is considered a non‐toxic compound and has a high RI ( n = 2.4–2.7) . The titanium dioxide/polymer nanocomposites can be formulated by blending of the already made TiO 2 nanoparticles into polymer matrix . The strong aggregation of TiO 2 nanoparticles and their incompatibility with the polymer matrix makes the preparation of a stable homogeneous and transparent dispersion by this simple method very difficult .…”

“…[13,14] The titanium dioxide/polymer nanocomposites can be formulated by blending of the already made TiO 2 nanoparticles into polymer matrix. [14,15] The strong aggregation of TiO 2 nanoparticles and their incompatibility with the polymer matrix makes the preparation of a stable homogeneous and transparent dispersion by this simple method very difficult. [16] Special surface treatment of inorganic particles, high energy mixing or grinding are required to fabricate stable hybrid composites.…”