High-Performance and Simply-Synthesized Ladder-Like Structured Methacrylate Siloxane Hybrid Material for Flexible Hard Coating

Abstract

A high performance ladder-like structured methacrylate siloxane hybrid material (LMSH) was fabricated via simple hydrolytic sol–gel reaction, followed by free-radical polymerization. A structurally ordered siloxane backbone, the ladder-like structure, which is an essential factor for high performance, could be achieved by a short period of sol–gel reaction in only 4 h. This results in superior optical (Transmittance > 90% at 550 nm), thermal (T5 wt % decomposition > 400 ℃), mechanical properties(elastic recovery = 0.86, hardness = 0.6 GPa) compared to the random- and even commercialized cage-structured silsesquioxane, which also has ordered structure. It was investigated that the fabricated ladder-like structured MSH showed the highest overall density of organic/inorganic co-networks that are originated from highly ordered siloxane network, along with high conversion rate of polymerizable methacrylate groups. Our findings suggest a potential of the ladder-like structured MSH as a powerful alternative for the methacrylate polysilsesquioxane, which can be applied to thermally stable and flexible optical coatings, even with an easier and simpler preparation process.

SiO2/Ladder-Like Polysilsesquioxanes Nanocomposite Coatings: Playing with the Hybrid Interface for Tuning Thermal Properties and Wettability

“…Apart from cage-like silsesquioxanes, LPSQs have been recently applied in hard coating formulations, profiting from their remarkable thermal properties and processability, and from the enhanced solubility in a wide variety of organic solvents [50][51][52][53][54][55]. For instance, Lee et al developed a series of thiol-ene UV-curable inorganic-organic hybrid LPSQs with methacryl and mercaptopropyl functionalities as building blocks of flexible hard coating formulations [56].…”

Raspberry-Like Polysilsesquioxane Particles with Hollow-Spheres-on-Sphere Structure: Rational Design, Controllable Synthesis, and Catalytic Application

“…The dense microspheres were surrounded by hollow nanospheres with hollow cores of nearly 200 nm in diameter and a shell thickness of approximately 25 nm. In the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum of the HSOS particles (Figure 2a), the strong absorption peaks at 1123 and 1026 cm −1 represent Si–O–Si structures of PSQs [31]. The peaks at 2555 cm −1 for the SH group and 780 cm −1 for the SiCH 3 group were observed in the HSOS particles, thereby demonstrating the successful formation of mercaptopropyl-functionalized PSQs [32].…”

Mercapto-Functionalized Porous Organosilica Monoliths Loaded with Gold Nanoparticles for Catalytic Application

“…Figure 2 shows the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of the POMs with and without Au, as well as of the precursors of POMs (MTMS/SHTMS/SHDMS = 3:1:2). In the spectra of the POMs with and without Au, two strong absorption peaks at 1120 and 1026 cm −1 represented the Si–O–Si structure of POMs (Figure 2) [30]. These peaks did not appear in the spectrum for the precursors of POMs.…”