The influence of applied silica nanoparticles on a bio-renewable castor oil based polyurethane nanocomposite and its physicochemical properties

Abstract

Novel bio-renewable castor oil based polyurethane (PU)–silica nanocomposite films were prepared using castor oil, 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate and dibutyltin dilaurate in tetrahydrofuran at room temperature. ATR-FTIR spectra confirm the formation of polyurethane and the presence of silica nanoparticles in the polyurethane matrix. The increase of Si nanoparticle content shifts the peak position of N–H and CO (both hydrogen and non-hydrogen bonded) groups present in the polyurethane structure. Furthermore, Raman spectra confirmed the urethane–amide interaction present in the polyurethane–silica nanocomposites. ²⁹Si CP/MAS NMR spectra evidence the formation and the presence of completely condensed SiO₂ species in the polyurethane nanocomposite films. The incorporation of silica nanoparticles increases the thermal stability of the above-mentioned polyurethane films, which can be seen from the increase in activation energy (E_a) values of the degradation process. The E_a values at two stages (T_max1 and T_max2) of the degradation process are 133, 139 and 157, 166 kJ mol⁻¹ for PU control and PU-5AMS (5 wt% amine modified silica nanoparticles), respectively. DSC results prove the interfacial interaction present between silica nanoparticles and the polyurethane hard segment, which decreases the melting temperature. Optical transmittance of the polyurethane films decreased with increasing silica content due to the scattering at the interfaces between the silica nanoparticles and polyurethane. It is interesting to note that the presence of silica nanoparticles gives reinforcement to polyurethane film, thereby increasing the storage modulus up to 24% for PU-5AMS. FE-SEM and HR-TEM images confirm the presence of silica nanoparticles in the polyurethane matrix.