Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Chitosan/SiO2 Hybrid Composites
Updated: 2010-02-28 15:39:39
Chitosan-silica (CSSi) hybrid films have been fabricated by sol-gel process using tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as precursor. The structure of the resulting hybrid has been characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Fracture surface has been revealed through a field emission-scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectrometer (FE-SEM/EDS) to probe the dispersion degree and the size of SiO2 particle. Study of morphology using a SEM micrograph and the High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) images of the nanocomposite films suggests that the SiO2 nanoparticles are within the range of 2–7 nm in diameter and are uniformly dispersed in the polymer matrix. Thermal properties of these composite materials have been studied as a function of sil...MedWorm Message: Get the very latest Swine Flu news via the MedWorm Swine Flu RSS news feed - updated hourly from thousands of authoritative health and news sources.