Effect of Poly(Titanium Oxide) on the Viscoelastic and Thermophysical Properties of Interpenetrating Polymer Networks

The influence of poly(titanium oxide) obtained using the sol-gel method in 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate medium on the viscoelastic and thermophysical properties of interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) based on cross-linked polyurethane (PU) and poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) was studied. It was found that both the initial (IPNs) and organo-inorganic interpenetrating polymer networks (OI IPNs) have a two-phase structure by using methods of dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The differential scanning calorimetry methods and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the presence of poly(titanium oxide) increases the compatibility of the components of IPNs. It was found that an increase in poly(titanium oxide) content leads to a decrease in the intensity of the relaxation maximum for PHEMA phase and an increase in the effective crosslinking density due to the partial grafting of the inorganic component to acrylate. It was shown that the topology of poly(titanium oxide) structure has a significant effect on the relaxation behavior of OI IPNs samples. According to SEM, a uniform distribution of the inorganic component in the polymer matrix is observed without significant aggregation.