Grafting of polyethylene glycols onto nanometer silica surface by 1,4‐phenylene diisocyanate

In this paper, polyethylene glycol (PEG) molecules have been grafted onto the surface of nanometer silica in toluene by using 1,4‐phenylene diisocyanate (PPDI) as a coupling agent, and dibutyltion dilaurate (DBTDL) as a catalyst. This process was executed by using a one‐step procedure involving a first reaction of PPDI with silica and a subsequent reaction of isocyanate‐bound silica with PEG. The PEG‐grafted silica has been characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and SEM analyses. The effects of reaction time, temperature and molar ratio of reactant on the effectiveness of the surface grafting were also investigated. Optimum grafting conditions of PEG were obtained at the temperature of 80 °C for 8 h. Maximum grafting of PEG molecules ratio was 22.6%, and maximum overall grafting ratio was 35%, as determined by TGA. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.