Preparation of new polymer nanocomposites based on chiral poly(amide-imide)/surface-modified ZnO nanoparticles containing 4,4′-methylene bis(3-chloro-2,6-diethylaniline) linkages via ultrasonication-assisted process

In the present investigation, a novel chiral poly(amide-imide) (PAI) was synthesized via direct polycondensation reaction of chiral diacid monomer with 4,4′-methylene bis(3-chloro-2,6-diethylaniline) in molten tetrabutylammonium bromide as a green solvent. Then PAI-based bionanocomposites (BNC)s have been successfully prepared via ultrasonic irradiation method using zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles functionalized by γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane as a coupling agent to decrease aggregation of nanoparticles in polymer matrix. The physicochemical and morphology properties of the neat PAI and BNCs were studied using ¹H-NMR, FT-IR spectroscopy, specific rotation, elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). FT-IR and TEM depicted that the ZnO nanoparticles function as a physical cross-linking agent with PAI through hydrogen bonding between the OH on the ZnO nanoparticles and the C=O of the amide and imide groups. Also, TEM and FE-SEM images revealed that ZnO nanoparticles were dispersed in PAI matrix with particle size between 15 and 25 nm. Thermogravimetric analysis data showed an improvement of thermal stability of new BNCs in comparison with the pure PAI.