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Tailoring the structure of hybrid organic inorganic nanomaterials built on tetra‐ and polyfunctional alco‐oxo‐titanium clusters in polystyrene
Author(s) -
Trabelsi Sondes,
Fornasieri Giulia,
Rozes Laurence,
Janke Andreas,
Mensch Axel,
Sanchez Clément,
Stamm Manfred
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of applied crystallography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.429
H-Index - 162
ISSN - 1600-5767
DOI - 10.1107/s0021889806028871
Subject(s) - nanomaterials , tetra , transmission electron microscopy , polystyrene , cluster (spacecraft) , titanium , polymer , hybrid material , materials science , styrene , density functional theory , chemistry , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , copolymer , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , computational chemistry , medicinal chemistry , computer science , engineering , programming language
Functional titanium oxo‐clusters Ti 16 O 16 (OEt) 32− x (OPhCH=CH 2 ) x with different numbers of styrenic groups, where x = 4 (tetra) and x = 16 (poly), have been synthesized and copolymerized with styrene. The resulting hybrid nanomaterials present three‐dimensional networks in which the inorganic nano‐fillers are covalently linked to the inorganic polymer. The influence of the number of functional groups borne by the oxo clusters on the structure of the resulting hybrid nanomaterials has been investigated by a combination of small‐angle X‐ray scattering, transmission electron microscopy and energy‐filtering transmission electron microscopy. Compared with the tetra‐functional clusters, the poly‐functional clusters were better dispersed in the hybrid phase even at very high cluster content (between 5 and 10 wt%). Independently of the number of functional groups, three structural levels ( i.e. largest, intermediate and primary clusters) have been revealed. The size of the aggregates has been found to be reduced by increasing the number of styrenic reactive groups.