Abstract In this work, the sol–gel technique was used to prepare a new organic–inorganic hybrid from Epoxidized Natural Rubber (ENR-50) and Titanium dioxide (TiO2) by blending different content of titania precursors (10, 30, and 50 wt%) with an ENR-50 matrix. A wide range of analyses was conducted to understand the nature of this hybrid and also to evaluate its potential uses in applications required high refractive index such as micro optical and optoelectronic devices. Results indicated that the ring-opening reaction of epoxide groups in ENR-50 increased with the increase of titania content in the hybrid resulting a strong bonding between titania and ENR-50 through Ti O C bond, which was observed in FTIR spectrum at 1027–1028 cm−1. It is also observed a slight decrease in the intensity of the amorphous peak along with a new crystalline peak appeared at 2θ = 23 and 27° due to the crystalline nature of titania. The hybrids showed three thermal degradation steps in the range of temperature 76 to 769 °C due to the existence of the Ti moieties with the mixture of polymer chains, which in turn shifted the Tg at 24.3, 26.9 and 28.1 °C for the hybrid at 10, 30, and 50 wt% TiO2 compared to the Tg of ENR-50 at −18.4 °C respectively. The morphology of the ENR-50 showed clear changes during of the synthesis of ENR-50/TiO2 hybrids, these changes were proven by SEM, TEM, and AFM analyses. Uv–Vis results showed that the higher wavelength peak at 293 nm has shifted to 296, 298 and 300 nm for the hybrid at 10, 30, and 50 wt% TiO2 respectively due to the strong interaction between titania precursors and ENR-50 matrix. Furthermore, the hybrids showed good optical transparency in the visible light range.

中文翻译：

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基于 ENR-50/TiO2 纳米杂化材料的溶胶-凝胶技术的稳健界面：对光学合成、表征和应用的洞察

摘要 在这项工作中，溶胶-凝胶技术通过混合不同含量的二氧化钛前体（10、30 和 50 wt%），从环氧化天然橡胶（ENR-50）和二氧化钛（TiO2）制备了一种新的有机-无机杂化物。 %) 使用 ENR-50 矩阵。进行了广泛的分析以了解这种混合的性质，并评估其在需要高折射率的应用中的潜在用途，例如微型光学和光电设备。结果表明，ENR-50中环氧基团的开环反应随着杂化物中二氧化钛含量的增加而增加，导致二氧化钛和ENR-50之间通过Ti OC键形成强键，这在1027-1028的FTIR光谱中观察到厘米-1。由于二氧化钛的结晶性质，还观察到非晶峰的强度略有下降，同时在 2θ = 23 和 27° 处出现了新的结晶峰。由于 Ti 部分与聚合物链的混合物的存在，杂化物在 76 至 769 °C 的温度范围内表现出三个热降解步骤，这反过来将杂化物的 Tg 移至 24.3、26.9 和 28.1°C。与 ENR-50 在 -18.4 °C 下的 Tg 相比，分别为 10、30 和 50 wt% 的 TiO2。在 ENR-50/TiO2 杂化物的合成过程中，ENR-50 的形态表现出明显的变化，这些变化通过 SEM、TEM 和 AFM 分析得到证实。Uv-Vis 结果表明，对于 10、30、由于二氧化钛前体和 ENR-50 基质之间的强相互作用，分别为 50 wt% 和 TiO2。此外，杂化物在可见光范围内表现出良好的光学透明度。