Morphology of polyacrylate/nanosilica composites as studied by micro-Raman spectroscopy

The Raman scattering study of the morphology of poly(2-hydroxyethyl acrylate) (PHEA)/nanosilica composites at various levels of the filler loading was performed. Two types of nanosilica were applied: unmodified (Aerosil 200) and surface and structure modified (Aerosil R7200). The composites were obtained by photocuring of monomer/silica mixtures. surface Raman mapping method we obtained information concerning the distribution of nanosilica particles in the composites being under study. The size and structure of nanosilica aggregates within the polymer matrix strongly depend on the amount of the nanosilica added. To check uniformity of the nanosilica dispersion in the composites the Raman depth studies were also performed for PHEA containing 20 wt.-% of nanosilica.