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Investigating the Nanostructural Evolution of TiO2 Nanoparticles in the Sol-Gel Derived TiO2-Polymethyl Methacrylate Nanocomposites
Article Number: SIS201796AI141222
14th December, 2022
Author(s):
Akhmad Herman Yuwono, Yu Zhang, John Wang
Abstract:
Nanocomposite thin films consisting of titanium oxide, or TiO2, nanoparticles embedded in a
polymer matrix represent a new class of potential materials for optoelectronic applications such
as optical switches, waveguides, high refractive indices and non-linear optical devices. Among
the various processing techniques under development for these nanocomposites, the in situ
sol−gel process is known to be versatile as it enables control of the inorganic-organic
interaction at various molecular, nanometer, and micrometer scales. However, the sol−gel
process has a major limitation, which is the low crystallinity in the resulting TiO2 phase due to
relatively low processing temperatures. Therefore, the current research is aimed at investigating
the nanostructural evolution of theTiO2 crystallite during the in situ sol−gel process to gain a
better understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the largely amorphous nature of TiO2
nanoparticles. For this purpose, two sol−gel parameters, i.e., the hydrolysis ratio (Rw) and pH
value of the TiO2 precursor solution were varied. On the basis of XRD and FTIR analyses, it
was found that the largely amorphous TiO2 state is related to the fast development of stiff
Ti−OH networks during the hydrolysis and condensation stages of the sol−gel process, and
concurrently worsened by the formation of the rigid PMMA matrix upon thermal annealing.