Hydrophilic CaCO3 nanoparticles designed for poly (ethylene terephthalate)

In this work, a new kind of the hydrophilic CaCO3 nanoparticles modified by polyethylene glycol phosphate (PGP) was designed for the in-situ preparation of poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET). It was confirmed that PGP induced the growth of calcite and coated the surface of calcite by the covalent bond. PGP not only adjusts the morphology and the size of CaCO3 nanoparticles, but also solve the main problems in the in-situ preparation of CaCO3/PET: (a) the reaction of CaCO3 with TPA; (b) the agglomeration of CaCO3 nanoparticles. Compared to the nanocomposite filled with the pure CaCO3, the resulting nanocomposite filled with the modified CaCO3 exhibits a better dispersion of the nanoparticles, a higher polymerization degree and a better thermal stability. The results related to the covalent bond formed by PGP on the surface of CaCO3 and PET during the polymerization of the nanocomposite.