Efficient cage structured polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane embedded poly(vinyl alcohol) membranes: Thermal degradation and mechanical stability in hydrated condition

摘要

In this work, the thermal degradation of functionalized cage structured polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) incorporated poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and poly(vinyl alcohol)-poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) blend membranes were discussed. PVA-PEO/POSS and cross-linked PVA/POSS systems exhibited excellent improvement in thermal stability at lower loading of POSS as compared to pure PVA and uncross-linked PVA/POSS system. Uncross-linked PVA and PVA/POSS systems exhibited mainly two degradation steps. However, cross-linked PVA/POSS systems showed more degradation steps due to the formation of 3-dimentional network structure in the polymer. The mechanical stability of PVA/POSS and PVA-PEO/POSS systems at hydrated state were analyzed and observed a remarkable stability even in the wet condition.