Thermal and thermo‐oxidative stability of thermoplastic polymer nanocomposites with arylated [60]fullerene derivatives

Nanocomposite films of polystyrene (PS) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) were prepared by loading four variations of fullerenes such as pristine C ₆₀ , multiarylated [60]fullerenes with tolyl (tolyl‐C ₆₀ ) and phenol groups (phenol‐C ₆₀ ), and [6,6]‐phenyl‐C61‐butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). The TGA analysis showed no appreciable change in their thermal and thermo‐oxidative stabilities for PS/tolyl‐C ₆₀ and PS/phenol‐C ₆₀ films, but significant improvement up to +45°C for PS/C ₆₀ and PS/PCBM films even under air. The thermo‐oxidative stability of PMMA/phenol‐C ₆₀ and PMMA/PCBM, however, exhibited slightly larger improvements over that of PMMA/C ₆₀ . We believe that the radical‐scavenging ability of π‐conjugative fullerenes and the dispersibility of fullerene–polymer combinations play key roles in these enhancements. We also found that optimal loading occurred at a relatively low content of fullerenes (0.4–0.8 wt%) probably because larger amounts may interfere with the morphological interaction of polymer chains which is essential for the thermal persistency of polymer. POLYM. COMPOS. 37:1143–1151, 2016. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers