Synthesis and Characterization of Organo-Inorganic Nanoobjects Based on Hyperbranched Polyethoxysiloxanes

The synthetic scheme for obtaining modified molecular silicasols based on hyperbranched polyethoxysiloxane (HPEOS) is presented in this work. The synthetic scheme includes several stages; the first and most important one represents polycyclization and simultaneous modification of HPEOS with either organosilanols or disiloxanes. The following stages are polymer-analogous reactions affecting only the external layer. The obtained nanoparticles are nanogels with specific morphology of inorganic silica core soluble in anhydrous organic solvents. All the hybrid systems were characterized by means of elemental analysis, GPC, IR and NMR spectroscopy. Some physical and chemical parameters were determined for all samples after fractionation. Synthesized molecular silicasols are ready-made universal models for investigations of interactions between macromolecules of polymer matrix and nanoparticles, and evaluation of various factors, such as the chemical nature of the external layer or particle core size, which have a great influence upon properties of nanocomposites.