Abstracts Book - IMRC 2018

• SWMC-O016
NANOCOMPOSITES OF POLY(METHYLMETHACRYLATE) (PMMA)
NANOPARTICLES AND BOEHMITE WITH IMPROVED OPTICAL
PROPERTIES
Sujey Castellanos 1 , Jacobo Aguilar 1 , Israel Ceja 2 , Arturo Barrera 1 , Victor Vladimir Amilcar
Fernandez 1
1 Universidad de Guadalajara, Ciencias Tecnológicas, Mexico. 2 Universidad de Guadalajara,
Fisica, Mexico.
Here we report the synthesis and characterization of nanocomposites prepared
with crosslinked and uncrosslinked PMMA nanoparticles of different sizes (35 ± 10
nm) and boehmite (AlOOH). The materials were synthesized by a two-step method;
first, PMMA nanoparticles were synthetized by direct microemulsion polymerization
and croslinked with divinylbenzene (DVB). Then, the nanoparticles were added to
the sol-gel precursor of AlOOH, and the gel obtained was dried at 110°C/12h and
calcined at 300°C/4h. The nanocomposites were characterized by several
techniques such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), transmission electron
microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (DRX), physical adsorption of N2, Fourier
Transfor Infrared (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy and UV-Vis spectroscopy with diffuse
reflectance (DRS) and photoluminescence (PL). Morphological results showed that
the structure of nanocomposites were deformed by the polymer nanoparticles,
whereas the surface area of mesopores were 349 – 401 m 2 g -1 and 391 m 2 g -1 , for
nanocomposites and boehmite, respectively, at the same treatment temperature
(300°C). Nanocomposites with crosslinked PMMA nanoparticles showed an
improvement in the optical properties. Bandgap energy (Eg) calculations by direct
allowed electronic transitions showed lower Eg values for nanocomposites (3.10 -
3.20 eV) compared with boehmite (3.50 eV). Due to the thermoplastic nature of
PMMA, it was calculated the indirect allowed electronic transitions Eg which
consider the thermal effects in structure under the presence of irradiation, whose
values ranged between 2.05 and 2.19 eV. This new approach makes the
nanocomposites an innovative alternative to be used as semiconductor materials,
with applications in photocatalysis and photovoltaics.
Acknowledgment: S.G. Castellanos acknowledges National Council of Science
and Technology (CONACYT) for the Master’s scholarship No. 598011.
Keywords: Nanocomposite, Boehmite, Bandgap energy
Presenting authors email: vladimir.fernandez@cuci.udg.mx