Preparation and characterization of novel optically active poly(amide-imide)/α-Fe2O3nanocomposites containing<scp>l</scp>-alanine moieties

An optically active poly(amide-imide) (PAI) was synthesized from the polymerization reaction of N,N&#39;-(Pyromellitoyl)-bis-l-alanine diacid chloride with 2,5-diaminotoluene. The obtained inorganic metal oxide nanocomposites composed of PAI/nanostructured hematite (α-Fe2O3) were synthesized through ultrasonic irradiation. The resulting nanocomposites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The TEM results indicated that the nanoparticles were dispersed homogeneously in PAI matrix on nanoscale. TGA confirmed that the heat stability of the nanocomposites was improved in the presence of α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles. POLYM. COMPOS., 2014. &#169; 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers