Edward Bryan Coughlin

Polymers and Copolymers Containing Covalently Bonded Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes Moieties

The use of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POS or POSS®) as a moiety in polymers and copolymers is an area of research that has gained tremendous popularity in recent years. A number of excellent review articles have been published [1-8], as well as articles that elaborate on the larger field of silsesquioxanes [9-10]. In this chapter, we discuss T8 POS compounds, which are represented by the general formula Si8O12R8, where R is an organic group, or group suitable for polymerization or grafting. For ease of illustration, we have chosen to schematically represent the POS moiety as a cubic structure in many of the subsequent schemes that will appear in this chapter; this representation is shown in Fig. 4.1.