Effect of zinc oxide on the thermal and dielectric properties of isobornyl methacrylate with benzyl methacrylate copolymer

In this study, copolymers of isobornyl methacrylate (IBMA) and benzyl methacrylate (BzMA) in three different compositions were synthesized by free radical polymerization method. The structural characterization of the copolymers was carried out by 1H-NMR and FT-IR techniques and their compositions were calculated by 1H-NMR. Composites of the synthesized poly(isobornyl methacrylate0.48-co-benzyl methacrylate) P(IBMA0.48-co-BzMA) copolymer with nano zinc oxide at 1, 5 and, 10 wt% were prepared. The thermal stability and glass transition temperatures of the copolymers and composites were comparatively investigated using TGA and DTA data. The glass transition temperatures of the copolymers increased with increasing IBMA units in the polymer chain. The glass transition temperatures of composites prepared with nano ZnO in three different compositions decreased compared to pure copolymer. The thermal degradation kinetics of P(IBMA0.48-co-BzMA) copolymer and P(IBMA0.48-co-BzMA)/ZnO 10 wt% composite were determined using Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) and Kissenger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) methods by thermogravimetric analysis data. The activation energies of the studied copolymer determined according to the FWO and KAS methods were calculated as 144,65 and 142,10 kJ/mol, respectively, while 221.45 and 222.68 kJ/mol were calculated for the composite. The dielectric behaviors of P(IBMA0.48-co-BzMA) copolymer and its composites prepared with nano ZnO were investigated as a function of frequency. It was determined that the dielectric constant values of the composites increased with increasing nano ZnO content.