International Polymer Processing, Vol.20, No.4, 345-351, 2005
Organic-inorganic hybrid material synthesis by on line coupling twin screw extruder with a microwave oven
A new process for elaborating continuously organic-inorganic hybrid materials by reactive extrusion is presented. This synthesis consists in formulating a copolymer of ethylene and vinyl acetate (EVA)/tetrapropoxysilane (TPOS or Si(OC3H7)(4))/catalyst blend by a corotating twin screw extruder followed by two successive reaction steps: on line microwave crosslinking reaction and hydrolysis-condensation reactions leading to a silica network cografted onto the organic matrix. Extrusion feed rate (Q), temperature, microwave oven power (P), and microwave curing time (t(mv)) were studied. Crosslinking density was evaluated before and after hydrolysis-condensation reactions and compared with the previous results obtained in static conditions. These materials tailored by an on line process present a permanent elasticity at high temperature (up to 200 degrees C) and a certain optical transparency This new approach offers the possibility to synthesize massive samples based on organic-inorganic hybrid material.