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Structural Evolution of Silsesquioxane-based Organic/Inorganic Nanocomposite Networks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Christopher L. Soles ,
Eric K. Lin ,
Wen-li Wu ,
Chunxin Zhang  and
Richard M. Laine
Christopher L. Soles
Affiliation:
NIST, Polymers Division, Gaithersburg, MD 20899–8541
Eric K. Lin
Affiliation:
NIST, Polymers Division, Gaithersburg, MD 20899–8541
Wen-li Wu
Affiliation:
NIST, Polymers Division, Gaithersburg, MD 20899–8541
Chunxin Zhang
Affiliation:
University of Michigan, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Ann Arbor, MI 48109–2136
Richard M. Laine
Affiliation:
University of Michigan, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Ann Arbor, MI 48109–2136
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Abstract

The basic tetrahedra of silica are readily assembled into eight cornered cages known as cubic silsesquioxanes ([RSiO1.5]8). Silsesquioxane cubes represent one of the smallest possible units of ceramic silica. The corners of these nanometer-sized ceramic cubes are readily functionalized with reactive groups and incorporated into organic polymers. In this work, we characterize the structures that result from varying the length of the flexible organic segments used to connect the cubes in a series of hybrid network materials. For very short organic segments, steric hindrances inhibit high degrees of network conversion and the resulting network is very inhomogeneous. As the length of the flexible organic segment increases, the added degrees of freedom allow a more ‘ordered’ glassy material to evolve. If the length of the organic segment becomes very long in comparison to the size of the cube, a disordered polymer-like network is obtained.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 628: Symposium CC – Hybrid Organic/Inorganic Materials , 2000 , CC4.2
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2000

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References

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