microwave-assisted synthesis of sio2 nanoparticles and its application on the flame retardancy of poly styrene and poly carbonate nanocomposites

various morphologies of silica nanoparticles were synthesized by a microwave-assisted pechini method. silica nanostructures were synthesized via a fast reaction between tetra ethyl ortho silicate and ammonia at presence citric acid and other effective agents in pechini procedure. then for preparation of polymer-matrix nanocomposites, sio2 nanoparticles were added to poly carbonate (pc) and poly styrene (ps) matrices. nanostructures were characterized by x-ray diffraction (xrd), scanning electron microscopy (sem) and fourier transform infrared (ft-ir). the influence of sio2 nanostructures on the flame retardancy of the polymeric matrix was studied using ul- 94 analysis. our results show that the sio2 nanostructure can enhance the flame retardant property of the poly carbonate matrix. pc shows better flame retardancy compare to poly styrene.