Publications

Molecular engineering with bridged polysilsesquioxanes

Loy, Douglas A.; Shea, Kenneth J.

Bridged polysilsesquioxanes are a class of hybrid organic-inorganic materials that permit molecular engineering of bulk properties including porosity. The briding configuration of the hydrocarbon group insures that network polymers are readily formed and that the organic functionality is homogeneously distributed throughout the polymeric scaffolding at the molecular level. The effects that the length, flexibility, and substitution geometry of the hydrocarbon bridging groups have on the properties of the resulting bridged polysilsesquioxanes are investigated. Details of the preparation, characterization, and some structure property relationships of these bridged polysilsesquioxanes are presented.