Glass Transition in PEO-C₆₀ Nanocomposites

Nanocomposites of polyethylene oxide (PEO) loaded by various amounts of fullerenes have been prepared by dissolving PEO into a given solvent and homogenizing the PEO-solvent solution by stirring. Fullerenes nanoparticles have been added to the PEO solution, then the mixture was stirred for about 1 h at 1,000 rotations per minute followed by a 30 minutes high power sonication. The homogenized mixture/solution was poured on microscope slides and the solvent was removed in an oven at 90 ^oC, for 12 hours. The complete removal of the solvent was confirmed by TGA. Two solvents: deionized water and chloroform were used. The nanofiller is not soluble in water but is soluble in chloroform, opening thus the door towards a refined understanding of the differences between a nanocomposite and a molecular dispersion. The as-obtained nanocomposites were investigated by using a TA Instruments Q 50 DSC at various heating and cooling cycles with rates ranging between 5 ^oC/min to 30 ^oC/min. The research is focused on the effect of the heating/cooling rates, solvent type, and concentration of fullerenes on the glass transition temperature of PEO-C₆₀ nanocomposites.