Preparation of a novel composite material by emulsion polymerization of vinyl acetate and vinyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane

A novel material containing polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) was prepared by semi-continuous emulsion polymerization. Incompletely condensed, phenyl POSS (Na₃O₁₂Si₇(C₆H₅)₇) with the highly reactive group of trisodium silanolate was used to prepare 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13-heptaphenyl-15-vinyl silsesquioxane (vinyl-POSS) by “corner-capping” method. Then this cubic structure molecule was chemically bonded with PVAc chain to synthesize POSS/PVAc composite. The structures of POSS and composite were characterized by FTIR, ¹H-NMR and XRD. The results confirmed that vinyl-POSS could be successfully incorporated into the PVAc matrix via emulsion polymerization. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) was used to observe the morphology of copolymers. The thermal properties were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and thermal gravimetric analysis. Data indicated that the POSS/PVAc composite displayed higher thermal stability than that of the parent PVAc homopolymer.