Nanocomposites Transformed from Polystyrene Waste/Antimony, Barium and Nickel Oxides Nanoparticles with Improved Mechanical Properties

Abstract

In this experiment, the oxide nanoparticles were synthesized via chemical precipitation and the nanocomposites were produced using in situ polymerization method with varying nanoparticles contents ranged from 0 to 5 g. The mechanical properties of the nanocomposites were investigated and compared with the values obtained for untreated polystyrene. It was observed that the mechanical properties were higher for the nanocomposites and increase with increasing nanoparticle concentrations in the samples. It can be observed that the untreated polystyrene gave a tensile strength of 945.25 N/mm².  At high nanoparticle content of 5 g, the nanocomposite containing NiO nanoparticles showed a tensile strength of 973.83 N/mm² while nanocomposite containing BaO nanoparticles gave a tensile strength of 968.19 N/mm² and nanocomposite containing Sb₂O₃ nanoparticle gave a tensile strength of 955.53 N/mm². The results indicate that the tensile strength and percentage elongation of all the nanocomposites improved with the addition of metal oxides nanoparticles compared with the untreated polystyrene. Slight decrease in percentage reduction in area of the nanocomposites was recorded. Conclusively, with these results, the PS/NiO nano composite showed a better trend of behaviour due to better interfacial interaction between the nanofillers and the polymer matrix followed by PS/BaO and PS/Sb₂O₃ nanocomposites. It is recommended that during the production of polymer nanocomposite, PS/NiO, PS/BaO and PS/Sb₂O₃ nanocomposites could be used as reinforcements in the construction of buildings to add structural stability to the building.