Advanced microemulsion synthesis and characterization of wollastonite (CaSiO3)/polystyrene one-dimensional nanorods with core

Chatterjee, A., Khobragade, P., Mishra, S., & Naik, J. (2017). Advanced microemulsion synthesis and characterization of wollastonite (CaSiO3)/polystyrene one-dimensional nanorods with core–shell structures. Particuology, 30, 118-128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2016.04.002

Advanced microemulsion synthesis and characterization of wollastonite (CaSiO₃)/polystyrene one-dimensional nanorods with core–shell structures

Aniruddha Chatterjee ^*, Prashant Khobragade, Satyendra Mishra ^*, Jitendra N

University Institute of Chemical Technology, North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon 425001, Maharashtra, India

10.1016/j.partic.2016.04.002

Volume 30, February 2017, Pages 118-128

Received 29 August 2015, Revised 19 April 2016, Accepted 23 April 2016, Available online 2 July 2016, Version of Record 27 January 2017.

E-mail: aniruddha_chatterjee2006@yahoo.co.in; aniruddha.chatterjee@mit.asia; profsm@rediffmail.com

Highlights

• Shape and size controlled CaSiO₃/PS core–shell nanorods were synthesized by atomized microemulsion.

• Core–shell nanorods were formed by covalent bonding via the grafted coupling agent.

• Surface appearance of the CSNRs formed exhibited distinct polymer outgrowths around nanorods.

• Reinforcement of CSNRs was an excellent method for obtaining well-dispersed nanocomposites.

Abstract

In this work, one-dimensional core–shell nanorods (CSNRs; 185–250 nm wide and 1–1.5 μm long) consisting of triethoxyvinylsilane-modified wollastonite (CaSiO₃) nanorods (MWNRs) as a core and polystyrene as a shell with uniform size were successfully synthesized using an advanced microemulsion technique. The effect of varying the surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (producing CSNRsCTAB) or sodium dodecyl sulphate (producing CSNRsSDS) upon the size and morphology of the CSNRs was investigated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). X-ray diffractometry and Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer revealed the existence of a strong interaction between the MWNRs and polystyrene, which implies that the polymer chains were successfully grafted onto the surface of the MWNRs. The CSNRs were blended with polypropylene by melt processing, and the effect of the CSNRs upon the morphological properties of the polypropylene matrix was investigated by FE-SEM and atomic force microscopy. It was observed that the polystyrene chains that grafted onto the CaSiO₃ nanorods interfered with the aggregation of CaSiO₃ nanorods in the polypropylene matrix and thus improved the compatibility of the CaSiO₃ nanorods with the polypropylene matrix. Furthermore, the compatibility of CaSiO₃ nanorods with polypropylene of CSNRSDS/polypropylene was superior to that of CSNRCTAB/polypropylene.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Core–shell structures; Atomized microemulsion; One-dimensional nanorods

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