Synthesis of silica coated zinc oxide–poly(ethylene-co-acrylic acid) matrix and its UV shielding evaluation

• Well layer thickness controlled silica shell was made on ZnO nanoparticles.
• PEAA, an interfacial agent is used to make nanocomposite–polymer matrix by twin-screw extruder.
• Si-ZnO/PEAA matrix is highly stable and UV protective as compared to ZnO/PEAA matrix.
• Nanoparticle embedded polymer matrix is suggested to make UV shielding fabrics with Nylon4.

Silica coated zinc oxide nanoparticles (Si-ZnO NPs) (7 nm thick) were synthesized successfully and melt blended with poly(ethylene-co-acrylic acid) (PEAA resin) to improving ultraviolet (UV) shielding of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs). The photostability of both the ZnO NPs and Si-ZnO NPs were analyzed by the difference in photoluminescence (PL) and by methylene blue (MB) degradation. Photo-degradation studies confirmed that Si-ZnO NPs are highly photostable compared to ZnO NPs. The melt blended matrices were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy interfaced with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (FE-SEM-EDX). The UV shielding property was analyzed from the transmittance spectra of UV–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy. The results confirmed fine dispersion of thick Si-ZnO NPs in the entire resin matrix. Moreover, the Si-ZnO/PEAA showed about 97% UV shielding properties than the ZnO/PEAA.

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