Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane- and fullerene-end-capped Poly(ε-caprolactone)

Novel fullerene- and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane- (POSS) double end-capped poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) were successfully synthesized. The crystallization behavior of the fullerene-and POSS- double end-capped PCL and the effect of aggregation of the POSS and fullerene moieties on the crystallization of PCL were thoroughly studied. The aggregation of the fullerene moieties has much larger confinement effect on the crystallization of PCL than that of POSS. The successful incorporation of two nano-sized objects, that is, fullerene and POSS, into the PCL matrix may introduce their merits, so that PCL can attain multi-functional properties.