Glass transition temperature changes of melt-blended polymer nanocomposites containing finely dispersed ZnO quantum dots
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We report the linear increase in the glass transition temperature, T g, with nanofiller weight content. ZnO quantum dots dispersed by melt-blending in a poly(methyl methacrylate) host were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical analysis showing that the Tg of the system is described by a power law of the interparticle distance, hp, where the percolation exponent, , was 0.55 to 0.64. Our analysis demonstrates that the characteristic length of the polymer in PNCs is in the range of 0.41-0.90 nm. Our results suggest that polymer nanocomposites can be described by the quantitative models of polymer thin films. 2011 The Royal Society of Chemistry.