Journal
POLYMER
Volume 47, Issue 19, Pages 6814-6825Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2006.07.050
Keywords
synthesis; star poly(epsilon-caprolactone); polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
A readily available octa(3-chloropropyl) polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) [(ClCH2CH2CH2)(8)Si8O12] framework was used to prepare octa(3-hydroxypropyl) POSS [(HOCH2CH2CH2)(8)Si8O12], which was further used as an initiator to synthesize star poly(epsilon-caprolactone) with POSS core via ring-opening polymerization catalyzed by Stannous (11) octanoate [Sn(Oct)(2)]. The organic-inorganic star PCLs were characterized by means of gel permeation chromatograph (GPC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). The wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXRD) experiments indicate that the presence of POSS cores did not alter the crystal structure of PCL. The star PCLs exhibited enhanced melting temperatures in comparison with the linear counterpart. The isothermal crystallization kinetics shows that both the overall crystallization rate and the spherulitic growth rate of the star PCLs increased with increasing the concentration of POSS (or with decreasing the arm lengths of the stars). The fold surface free energy of the star PCLs decreased with increasing the concentration of POSS. These results could be interpreted based on the effect of the heterogeneous nucleation of POSS cores, which accelerates the process of crystallization. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available