Inorganic organic composite polymer coatings based on functionalised polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes

Abstract

A study has been undertaken with the aim of preparing appropriately functionalised polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) compounds to be used in ambient-cure chemistry. Numerous epoxy-functionalised compounds have been designed and synthesised and these materials have been characterised in order to determine their chemical structure. These compounds have also been incorporated into existing polymerisation reactions to test whether these materials could be used in the protective coatings industry. A glycidyl-functionalised POSS compound was prepared and reacted with a series of amines to produce ambient-cured polymers which could be used in the coatings industry. There were also a series of experiments undertaken on these polymers to identify the processes at work and to test how they compare to industry standards. As a direct comparator to this work, another set of results was obtained with a cyclic-siloxane material incorporated into the systems in place of the POSS. A linear analogue was also tested. The reactions proved to be a success and an appropriate data-set was yielded.

During the synthesis of POSS precursors there are a series of residual materials produced. These materials have also been studied in this project. It was anticipated that these would behave in a similar way to the POSS compounds however the same functionality was never achieved as had been with the POSS. Ambient-cured polymers have also been targeted from a basic hydride-functionalised POSS compound and a polybutadiene system. The appropriate reactions unfortunately never took place as anticipated but there were a series of tests undertaken to identify the processes at work.

A study has also been undertaken using near-I.R. to track the curing reactions. From this data, the extent of cure could be studied and the make-up of the reaction could be investigated in more detail.