Premium
Poly(methyl methacrylate) toughening with refractive index‐controlled core–shell composite particles
Author(s) -
Song JunYeob,
Kim JinWoong,
Suh KyungDo
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4628(19990307)71:10<1607::aid-app8>3.0.co;2-u
Subject(s) - materials science , methyl methacrylate , composite material , composite number , refractive index , emulsion polymerization , divinylbenzene , core (optical fiber) , polymerization , poly(methyl methacrylate) , high refractive index polymer , phase (matter) , styrene , copolymer , polymer , chemistry , layer (electronics) , optoelectronics , organic chemistry
Poly(butylacrylate‐ co ‐styrene)/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) core–shell composite particles having different refractive indexes were prepared by a two‐stage consecutive emulsion polymerization. The refractive index of the core phase was controlled by varying the incorporated amount of divinylbenzene (DVB) which acted as a crosslinking agent as well as a refractive index enhancer. The blends of these core–shell composite particles with PMMA showed an impact strength increment of about three times compared with that of the pure PMMA. However, as the amount DVB increased, the impact strength showed a tendency toward decreasing. This was caused by the loss of the elastic property of the core phase. The toughened PMMA blended with core–shell composite particles having the core crosslinked with 1 wt % DVB showed the best transparency. However, the transparency was rather decreased, as the difference of the refractive index between the core phase and the pure PMMA increased. This suggested that in the case of using the core–shell composite particles as a toughening agent for PMMA the matching of the refractive index of the core phase with that of the pure PMMA was one of key factors in maintaining the transparency of the toughened PMMA. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 71: 1607–1614, 1999