The nature of the alkoxide group, solvent, catalyst, and concentration on the gelation and porosity of hexylene-bridged polysilsesquioxanes
- Douglas A.
- James H.
Hexylene-bridged polysilsesquioxanes are hybrid organic-inorganic materials prepared by the sol-gel polymerization of 1,6-bis(trialkoxysilyl)hexane monomers: (1) R = Methyl; (2) R = Ethyl; and (3) R = n-Propyl. Previous studies showed that high surface area xerogels could be prepared from 2 with base catalyzed polymerizations while non-porous xerogels could be prepared with acidic catalysts. The object of this study was to ascertain the influences of monomer alkoxide group, solvent, catalyst, and monomer concentration on gelation time, and the properties of the resulting xerogels.This study has provided some insight into the chemical parameters that affect the ultimate structure in bridged polysilsesquioxanes. First, gelation times do not necessarily directly reflect the hydrolysis and condensation rates expected for different alkoxide groups. The collapse of porosity during the drying of hexylene-bridged polysilsesquioxanes occurs in nearly all acid-catalyzed samples, save those that form quickly due to concentration or from the methoxide monomer 1 in methanolic solution. This suggests that there may be a kinetic contribution to creating porosity in addition to the network compliance model. It would also appear that syneresis of gels during aging may be the symptom of changes resulting in increased porosity. Whatever these changes may be due to, they do not appear to significantly alter the structural composition. Experiments are underway to provide more information and test some of these hypotheses.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOE
- OSTI ID:
- 977527
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-04-2103
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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