engleski

Effect of Micro and Nano TiO2 on UV Degradation behavior of TiO2 Reinforced Polycaprolactone Composites

In this work the influence of micro and nano titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles on the properties of polycaprolactone (PCL) based composites before and after UV irradiation was investigated. The neat PCL and PCL/ TiO2 micro and nanocomposites were irradiated for 120 and 240h. DSC analysis showed that the melting temperature (Tm) decreased while the crystallization temperature (Tc) and degree of crystallinity (c) increased when the composites were exposed to UV irradiation. DMA analysis showed that the glass transition temperature (Tg) increased after UV irradiation. The addition of fillers leads to an increase in the initial weight loss (5 wt %) which decreases by time of exposing the samples to UV irradiation. SEM showed that the addition of micro and nano TiO2 promote UV degradation of polymer matrix after 120 and 240 h degradation. The results of FTIR spectroscopy confirmed that the micro and nano TiO2 enhance the degradation process because of their photocatalytic activity.

Particle-reinforced composites, nanocomposites, thermal properties, thermomechanical properties, UV irradiation

Glavni autori: Emi Govorčin Bajsić, Tamara Holjevac Grgurić