Spectroscopic study of film formation from polystyrene latex/TiO2 nanocomposites prepared by dip-coating method

Abstract

In this study we investigated the influence of TiO2 content and thickness of polystyrene (PS) template on film-formation behavior of PS/TiO2 composites using fluorescence and ultraviolet-visible techniques in conjunction with scanning electron microscopy. Films were prepared by coating PS templates with various layers of TiO2 using dip-coating method. The results showed that PS latexes present complete film formation on top surface of composites. After extraction of PS a well-defined interconnected porosity were obtained for thin films when TiO2 content was increased whereas thick samples did not present any interconnected porous structures above a certain TiO2 layer. POLYM. ENG. SCI. 54:288-302 2014. (c) 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers