Preparation and characterization of polystyrene/titanium dioxide composite particles containing organic ultraviolet-stabilizer groups

Polystyrene/titanium dioxide (TiO2) composite particles containing organic ultraviolet (UV)‐stabilizer groups were prepared by the emulsion copolymerization of styrene and 2‐hydroxy‐4‐(3‐methacryloxy‐2‐hydroxylpropoxy)benzophenone with sodium sulfopropyl lauryl maleate as a surfactant in the presence of rutile TiO2 modified with 3‐(trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate, and the product was poly[styrene‐co‐sodium sulfopropyl lauryl maleate‐co‐2‐hydroxy‐4‐(3‐methacryloxy‐2‐hydroxylpropoxy) benzophenone] [poly(St‐co‐M12‐co‐BPMA)]/TiO2 composite particles. The structures of the composite particles were characterized with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) absorption spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. The Fourier transform infrared and UV–vis measurements showed that poly(St‐co‐M12‐co‐BPMA) was grafted from the surface of TiO2, and this copolymer possessed a high absorbance capacity for UV light, which is very important for improving the UV resistance of polystyrene. The thermogravimetric analysis measurements indicated that the percentage of grafting and the grafting efficiency could reach 513.9 and 59.9%, respectively. The differential scanning calorimetry measurement indicated that the glass‐transition temperature of the poly(St‐co‐M12‐co‐BPMA)/TiO2 composite particles was higher than that of poly (St‐co‐M12‐co‐BPMA).These research results are very important for preparing polystyrene with high UV resistance. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007