Preparation of Fully Miscible Nanocomposites

I report an efficient, robust and up-scalable synthetic route to small, spherical, well stabilized, narrow disperse, crystalline ZnO nanoparticles. The synthesis utilizes Zn-oleate or Zn-stearate as precursors, which are hydrolyzed in polar organic solvents to obtain ZnO nanoparticles in diameters in the range of 3–5 nm on multi-gram scales. I also demonstrate polymer ligand exchange to be an efficient method to control steric stabilization and compatibilization of nanoparticles. A rational design of polymer binding groups and ligand exchange conditions allows to attach polymer brushes with grafting densities >1 nm^-2 to inorganic nanoparticles for nearly any nanoparticle/polymer combination using only a few types of binding groups. I demonstrate the potential of the method as an alternative to established grafting-from and grafting-to routes in considerably increasing the stabilization of inorganic nanoparticles in solution, to prepare completely miscible polymer nanocomposites with a controllable distance between nanoparticles, and to induce and control aggregation into percolation networks in polymeric matrices for a variety of different nanoparticle/polymer combinations. Not only end-functionalized homopolymers, but also commercially available copolymers with functional comonomers can be used for stable ligand exchange, demonstrating the versatility and broad potential of the method.

Level thesis:degree_level

thesis.doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher

Universität Bayreuth

Year

2015

Author dc:creator

• Ehlert, Sascha P.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Förster, Stephan

Repository record source_url

https://epub.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/1920/

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:epub.uni-bayreuth.de:1920