Publications

Porosity in polysilsesquioxane xerogels

Loy, Douglas A.; Schneider, Duane A.; Baugher, Brigitte M.; Rahimian, Kamyar

Polysilsesquioxane xerogels were prepared by the sol-gel polymerization of organotrialkoxysilanes, RSi(OR′)3, with R′ = Me: R = H, Me, vinyl, chloromethyl, chloromethylphenyl, hexadecyl, and octadecyl and R′ = Et: R = H, Me, Et, cyanoethyl, chloromethyl, vinyl, dodecyl, and hexadecyl. The majority of the gels were opaque and colloidal in appearance. The porosity of the xerogels was characterized by nitrogen porosimetry and scanning electron microscopy. Many of the remaining organotrialkoxysilanes formed porous polymeric gels, but the surface areas were lower and the mean pore sizes larger. Some of the xerogels, especially those prepared under acidic conditions were non-porous.