Insight on the structural aspect of ENR-50/TiO2 hybrid in KOH/C3H8O medium revealed by NMR spectroscopy
2020,
Omar S. Dahham,
Rosniza Hamzah,
Mohamad Abu Bakar,
Nik Noriman Zulkepli,
Abdulkader M. Alakrach,
Sam Sung Ting,
Mohd Firdaus Omar,
Tijjani Adam,
Awad A. Al-rashdi
The ring-opening reactions (ROR) of epoxide groups in epoxidized natural rubber/titania (ENR-50/TiO2) hybrid in potassium hydroxide/isopropanol medium were examined using NMR spectroscopy and supported by the FTIR technique. The thermal behaviour of the hybrid was also studied using TG/DTG and DSC analyses. The 1H NMR results suggested that 16.82% of ROR occurred in the hybrid, while the 13C NMR results exhibited five new peaks at δ 19.5, 71.0, 73.7, 91.7 and 94.4 ppm in the hybrid. 2D NMR, such as HMQC, HMBC and COSY techniques, further scrutinized these assignments. The FTIR spectrum exhibited Ti-O-C characteristics via the peak at 1028 cm−1. The TG/DTG results showed four steps of thermal degradation at 44–148, 219–309, 331–489 and 629–810 °C due to the existence of Ti moieties along with a polymer chain mixture (intact and ring-opened epoxide groups) of ENR-50, which in turn led to an increase in the Tg value of the hybrid to 27 °C compared to that of purified ENR-50 at −17.72 °C.