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Organic – Inorganic Interactions in Poly(trimethylene carbonate) – Titania Hybrids
Author(s) -
Cortecchia Elisa,
Mazzocchetti Laura,
Scandola Mariastella
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
macromolecular chemistry and physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1521-3935
pISSN - 1022-1352
DOI - 10.1002/macp.200900302
Subject(s) - polycarbonate , covalent bond , hybrid material , polymer chemistry , transesterification , polymer , polymerization , materials science , ring opening polymerization , titanium , chemistry , catalysis , organic chemistry , composite material , nanotechnology
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 TiOC 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 TiOC 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.