title: Thermally stable polymer composites with improved transparency by using colloidal mesoporous silica nanoparticles as inorganic fillers.
abstract: The colloidal mesoporous silica nanoparticles with small particle sizes (namely, CMS) are used as inorganic fillers of polymers (i.e. epoxy and silicone). From simple calculation, almost all polymers are estimated to be confined in the mesopores. To clarify the superiority of CMS over nonporous silica particles and mesoporous silica particles with much larger size (TMPS-4) as inorganic fillers, a systematic study on mechanical strength and transparency of polymer-silica nanocomposites was conducted. Compared with nonporous silica particles, similar to TMPS-4, CMS shows a greater effect on lowering the CTE. In addition, obtained polymer-CMS nanocomposites show improved transparency than polymer-TMPS-4 nanocomposites.
authors.affiliation: World Premier International (WPI) Research Center, International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Norihiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Mohamed B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Zakaria
authors.forename: Ya-Dong
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.forename: Kevin C-W
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamauchi
mesh_terms: D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry*; D008027:Light; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010316:Particle Size; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D016062:Porosity; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D012828:Silicones / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D003102:Colloids; D011108:Polymers; D012828:Silicones; D012822:Silicon Dioxide