High-Performance Polybenzoxazine Nanocomposites Containing Multifunctional POSS Cores Presenting Vinyl-Terminated Benzoxazine Groups

We have prepared a new class of polybenzoxazine/POSS nanocomposites through the reactions of a multifunctional vinyl-terminated VBa-POSS with a VBa monomer at various compositional ratios. The incorporation of the silsesquioxane core units into the polybenzoxazine matrix significantly hindered the mobility of the polymer chains and enhanced the thermal stability of these hybrid materials. Increasing the POSS content in these hybrids improved their thermal and mechanical properties, relative to those of the neat polybenzoxazine, because of hydrogen bonding between the siloxane groups of the POSS core units and the OH groups of the polybenzoxazine moieties, as adjudged using FTIR spectroscopy.