Incorporation of nanoparticles into polymer blend films can lead to a synergistic combination of properties and functionalities. Adding a large concentration of nanoparticles into a polymer blend matrix via conventional melting or solution blending techniques, however, is challenging due to the tendency of particles to aggregate. Herein, we report a straightforward approach to generate polymer blend/nanoparticle ternary composite films with extremely high loadings of nanoparticles based on monomer-driven infiltration of polymer and photopolymerization. The fabrication process consists of three steps: (1) preparing a bilayer with a nanoparticle (NP) layer atop a polymer layer, (2) annealing of the bilayer with a vapour mixture of a monomer and a photoinitiator, which undergoes capillary condensation and imparts mobility to the polymer layer and (3) exposing this film to UV light to induce photopolymerization of the monomer. The monomer used in this process is chemically different from the repeat unit of the polymer in the bilayer and is a good solvent for the polymer. The second step leads to the infiltration of the plasticized polymer, and the third step results in a blend of two polymers in the interstices of the nanoparticle layer. By varying the thickness ratio of the polymer and nanoparticle layers in the initial bilayers and changing the UV exposure duration, the volume fraction of the two polymers in the composite films can be adjusted. This versatile approach enables the design and engineering of a new class of nanocomposite films that contain a nanoscale-blend of two polymers in the interstices of a nanoparticle film, which could have combinations of unique mechanical and transport properties desirable for advanced applications such as membrane separations, conductive composite films and solar cells. Moreover, these polymer blend-filled nanoparticle films could serve as model systems to study the effect of confinement on the miscibility and morphology of polymer blends.

中文翻译：

---

通过单体驱动的聚合物渗透和光聚合作用填充聚合物共混物的纳米颗粒薄膜

将纳米颗粒掺入聚合物共混物膜中可以导致性能和功能性的协同组合。加入大浓度的纳米颗粒到聚合物共混物基质经由然而，由于颗粒趋于聚集，常规的熔融或溶液共混技术具有挑战性。在本文中，我们报告了一种直接的方法来生成聚合物共混物/纳米粒子三元复合薄膜，其具有基于单体驱动的聚合物渗透和光聚合作用的极高纳米粒子负载量。该制造过程包括三个步骤：（1）在聚合物层上制备具有纳米颗粒（NP）层的双层，（2）用单体和光引发剂的蒸汽混合物对该双层进行退火，该混合物经历毛细管缩合并赋予（3）使该膜暴露于紫外光下以引发单体的光致聚合。在该方法中使用的单体在化学上与双层中聚合物的重复单元不同，并且是聚合物的良好溶剂。第二步骤导致增塑的聚合物的渗透，第三步骤导致纳米颗粒层的空隙中两种聚合物的共混物。通过改变初始双层中聚合物和纳米颗粒层的厚度比并改变紫外线暴露时间，可以调节复合膜中两种聚合物的体积分数。这种通用的方法可以设计和制造新型的纳米复合材料薄膜，该薄膜在纳米颗粒薄膜的空隙中包含两种聚合物的纳米级掺混物，这些薄膜可能具有先进的应用（如膜分离）所需的独特机械和传输性能的组合，导电复合膜和太阳能电池。此外，这些聚合物共混物填充的纳米颗粒薄膜可以用作模型系统，以研究限制对聚合物共混物的混溶性和形态的影响。