The Thermo-Mechanical and Dielectric Properties of Superhydrophobic Pbz/TiO₂ Composites

Polymer composites display the synergistic property of the polymer (matrix) and inorganic particles (filler material), when their combination is properly utilized. In the present work, polymer composites possessing a superhydrophobic property are fabricated by imposing the combination of both surface free energy and surface roughness. Polybenzoxazine (Pbz) is a choice of low surface free energy material and TiO₂ particles contribute to create surface roughness. Thus, Pbz/TiO₂ composites were fabricated by varying TiO₂ contents to produce superhydrophobicity. The hydrophobicity increased from 94° for Pbz to 140° for Pbz/T5. The advantage of molecular design flexibility is also utilized to synthesize benzoxazine monomer (Bzo), which then undergoes thermally induced self-polymerization with different contents of TiO₂ to produce Pbz-TiO₂ composites. The structure analysis and curing behavior of the Bzo monomer was examined using FT-IR, NMR and DSC techniques. Whereas the properties of the Pbz/TiO₂ composites were analyzed by WCA, SEM, DMA, TGA, and dielectric techniques.