Host recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) and guest PVA-grafted ZnO nanoparticles: prepared nanocomposites characterization

Abstract

This article elaborates on the poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) recycling by dissolution–reprecipitation method and then fabrication and examination of its nanocomposites (NC)s with poly(vinyl alcohol) grafted ZnO nanoparticles (NP)s which was fabricated through blending procedure and solution casting process. Functionalization of inorganic NPs was performed via ultrasonic irradiation to improve compatibility with PET as a matrix. In this study, the guest ZnO NPs, alerting from 1, 3 to 5 wt%, were embedded into the PET as a host polymer and the resulting materials as modified ZnO NPs and the PET@ZnO-PVA NCs were examined using Fourier transform infrared, X-ray diffraction, UV–Vis spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), transmission electron microscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Morphological investigation showed that metal oxide particles in the nanoscale size were separated individually and uniformly dispersed. Representative FE-SEM images of ultrasonicated PET in ethanol, along with an image of ultrasonicated PET in DMAc were carried out to investigate the solvent effect. Calculated char yields from TGA data and its related LOI values showed that the obtained NCs could be considered as self-extinguishing compounds. Due to UV–Vis diagrams, PET@ZnO-PVA NCs had superior absorption compared to the recycled PET.