Organic–Inorganic Interactions in Poly(trimethylene carbonate)–Titania Hybrids

✍ Scribed by Elisa Cortecchia; Laura Mazzocchetti; Mariastella Scandola

• Book ID: 102488648
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 392 KB
• Volume: 210
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1022-1352
• DOI: 10.1002/macp.200900302

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Polycarbonate–titania hybrids have been synthesized by a sol–gel reaction, starting from poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC) and titanium isoproproxide in different ratios. PTMC with a given chain length was obtained by ring opening polymerization. FT‐IR spectra reveal the presence of TiOC covalent bonds between organic and inorganic phases, and their number increases with increasing inorganic phase content. Solvent extractions show that hybrid soluble fraction contains low $\overline M _{\rm n}$ PTMC chains with isopropoxide ends, which suggests that TiOC bond formation is mainly promoted by transesterification reactions of isopropyl alcohol onto the polymer chain, catalyzed by Ti compounds. Hybrid thermal properties reflect the combined effect of the decrease of PTMC molecular weight and of bond formation between PTMC and the inorganic network. The nanometric dimension of the TiO~2~ domains, confirmed by atomic force microscopy, provides optically transparent hybrids.

magnified image