Thermal Degradation of Polystyrene (PS) Nanocomposites Loaded with Sol Gel-Synthesized ZnO Nanorods

Abstract

Thermal degradation of polystyrene/ZnO (PS/ZnO) nanocomposites was investigated in this study. PS/ZnO polymer nanocomposites were prepared by using ZnO nanorods as nanofillers that were prepared via the sol-gel route. The as-prepared ZnO nanoparticles showed nanocrystallites in rod-like shapes with a non-uniform hexagonal cross-section and diameter varying from 40 to 75 nm. PS/ZnO nanocomposites with ZnO nanoparticles content ranging from 0–3 wt% are prepared via the common casting method. Even dispersion for ZnO nanoparticles within as-prepared PS/ZnO nanocomposites was verified through SEM/EDX measurements. Thermal degradation of the samples was checked by using the thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) under non-isothermal conditions and a constant heating rate of 10 °C min. The thermal stability of the nanocomposite is elevated compared to that of pristine PS due to the addition of the ZnO nanoparticles. The homogeneity of the PS/ZnO nanocomposites is verified by systematic increases in thermal degradation with increasing ZnO content. The characterization degradation temperatures at different weight loss percentages of ZnO nanoparticles increase at high ZnO wt%. Static activation energy of decomposing is based on TGA data. Activation energies showed some enhancement after the addition of ZnO nanorods into the PS matrix. Enhancing the thermal stability of PS with ZnO addition within the investigated ZnO concentration range is verified by TG, DSC results.

Characteristics and adsorption behavior of typical microplastics in long-term accelerated weathering simulation

“…S3b† shows that the endothermic peak temperature of the original PS was 416 °C, while the melting peak temperature ( T m ) increased to 424 °C after 60 days of weathering, slightly deviating from a typical endothermic peak range of 440–450 °C. 39 It was found that T m progressively increased gradually with prolonged weathering, resulting in enhanced thermal stability. Given that PS is a highly crystalline polymer, the variations in T m could be ascribed to changes in crystallinity.…”

Novel Filler-Filled-Type Polymer Electrolyte Membrane for PEFC Employing Poly(vinylphosphonic acid)-b-polystyrene-Coated Cellulose Nanocrystals as a Filler

“…Pristine CNC showed a drastic weight loss attributed to the CNC carbonization around 300–350 °C, after which it remained constant at 700 °C. − On the other hand, CNC@PVPA went a weight loss of about 30% from 200 to 300 °C attributed to intramolecular dehydration in PVPA. , Then, there was a gradual decrease in weight between 300 and 450 °C for CNC@PVPA and between 300 and 500 °C for CNC@PVPA- b -PS. This difference in weight loss temperature was considered to be due to the inhibition of the CNC carbonization and PVPA main chains by the polystyrene coating . After a gradual decrease, a drastic weight loss attributed to carbonization of the main alkyl chain of PVPA and PS was observed between 450 and 500 and 500 and 550 °C for CNC@PVPA and CNC@PVPA- b -PS, respectively.…”

“…This difference in weight loss temperature was considered to be due to the inhibition of the CNC carbonization and PVPA main chains by the polystyrene coating. 39 After a gradual decrease, a drastic weight loss attributed to carbonization of the main alkyl chain of PVPA and PS was observed between 450 and 500 and 500 and 550 °C for CNC@PVPA and CNC@PVPA-b-PS, respectively. Finally, a mild decrease was observed until 700 °C.…”

Effect of organoclay on the physical properties of colorless and transparent copoly(amide imide) nanocomposites

“…Uniformly dispersed clay within the matrix polymer can enhance T i D by acting as a masstransfer barrier for the volatile products generated during decomposition. [48][49][50] That is, polymer degradation may be delayed as the clay content increases in the hybrid lm. This effect can be explained by the fact that the mobility of the polymer chains decreases as the nanosized clay particles become more evenly dispersed because inorganic clays are nondegradable materials with a very large surface area.…”