WELL-DISPERSED POLYMER NANOCOMPOSITES VIA INTERFACIAL POLYMERIZATION

摘要

The present invention is generally directed to methods of in situ dispersion of nanosized materials (nanomaterials) in polymer hosts during the interfacial synthesis of said polymers. Such methods can generally comprise the steps of: (a) suspending a quantity of nanomaterials in a non-polar solvent (e.g., organic) to form a non-polar suspension; (b) dissolving a quantity of a first monomer species in the non-polar suspension to form a non-polar reactant phase; (c) dissolving a quantity of a second monomer species in a polar (e.g., aqueous) solvent to form a polar reactant phase; and (d) contacting the polar reactant phase with the non-polar reactant phase so as to effect interfacial polymerization, wherein such interfacial polymerization yields a composite product comprising nanomaterials well-dispersed in a polymer or copolymer matrix. Alternateively, the nanomaterials can be suspended in the polar solvent.