Transparent Polymer-Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane Composites

摘要

Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS?) are an important class of nanoscale inorganic-organic hybrid materials, which have been incorporated into organic polymers via melt blending as well as copolymerization In this paper, the different criteria necessary for formation of transparent POSS-polymer composites are discussed, as are general concepts governing the thermal/mechanical properties of these composites. A series of nanocomposites were produced from polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane materials and four transparent, amorphous, engineering plastics While the majority of the nanocomposites within this study retained high optical clarity, only cellulose propionate composites exhibited both high clarity and enhanced thermo-mechanical properties The specific system, which exhibited these desirable properties, is the only one tested which can be expected to possess strong particle-matrix interactions Such interactions are likely a key to the preparation of stable melt-blended POSS nanocomposites of engineering plastics, which possess enhanced properties.