Preparation and Properties of Additive Polysiloxane/POSS Hybrid Composites

Octavinyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) were used to hybrid with polysiloxane matrix by two methods, physical blending (PB) and chemical modification (CM). Mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of composites were studied by changing the percentage of POSS and investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and wide angle X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. The results show that the hybrid composites have better mechanical and thermal property than the parent polymer matrix, and CM-prepared composites show better reinforcing role compared with PB-prepared samples. The CM method was hydrosilylation reaction of octavinyl-POSS with hydrogen terminated poly(methylphenylsiloxane) (HPMPS) and the FTIR and NMR results of modified POSS revealed that hydrosilylation reaction took place successfully but was not complete. The modified POSS consisting partial segments of HPMPS attached to the central POSS core showed better distribution in matrix than PB-prepared POSS hybrid composites.