A new methacrylate polymer functionalized with fluoroarylketone prepared by hydrothermal method and its nanocomposites with SiO2: thermal, dielectric, and biocidal properties

Nanocomposites containing newly synthesized methacrylate polymer, poly 2-(4-fluorophenyl)-2-oxoethyl-2-methylprop-2-enoate (PFPAMA), and SiO 2 nanoparticles in different mass ratios (1, 3, 5, and 7 wt%) were synthesized using the hydrothermal method. The morphological and structural properties of the materials have been examined by SEM, FTIR, TGA, and XRD techniques. The activation energies ( E a ) related to thermal decomposition of the nanocomposites were estimated by the Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO) and Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (KAS) methods using non-isothermal TGA experiments. The thermal stability, glass transition temperature ( T g ), and thermal decomposition activation energy ( E a ) values of nanocomposites were increased by increasing the SiO 2 amount on the composite. The dielectric constant ( ε ′), dielectric loss factor ( ε ′′), and ac conductivity of neat PFPAMA and PFPAMA/SiO 2 nanocomposites were also measured for the frequency range of 100 Hz to 2 kHz at different temperatures (from 25 to 120 °C). It was seen that the frequency dependence of the dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor decreased with increasing frequency. The biological activities of PFPAMA/SiO 2 nanocomposites against gram-positive ( S. aureus ) and gram-negative ( E. coli ) bacteria were also tested. The antibacterial effect increased against both bacterial species as the amount of SiO 2 in the nanocomposites increased.