Synthesis of silanized polyether urethane hybrid systems. Study of the curing process through hydrogen bonding interactions

Different types of silanized polyurethanes (SPUR) were prepared in two ways: the first type (a), by reacting a polyether diol with an isocyanatesilane and the second type (b) by reacting it with diisocyanate (IPDI) and afterwards with aminosilane. These systems are able to cure with atmospheric moisture and, as a consequence, a tridimensional hybrid structure is formed where the inorganic and organic phases are bonded with covalent bonds. The evolution of the curing process in both systems has been monitored by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, through the changes observed in the carbonyl stretching vibration region. The results obtained show that the SPURs of kind (b) present stronger hydrogen bonding interactions as a consequence of urea groups present in the final structure. Moreover, given the proximity of both urethane and urea groups to alkoxysilane end groups, during the alkoxysilane curing process these groups are forced to approximate themselves even further and therefore the reticulation process leads to an increase of the self association of urethane and urea groups.Finally, DSC has been used to measure T_g values of the systems studied before and after the curing process. The obtained results have confirmed the main conclusions obtained in FTIR analysis.     

Silica-supported Copper（Ⅱ） Catalyzed Coupling of Arylboronic Acids with Imidazoles

Immobilized copper（Ⅱ） in organic-inorganic hybrid materials catalyzed Ar-N coupling of arylboronic acids with imidazoles has been developed. Arylboronic acids reacted with imidazoles smoothly in the presence of a 3-（2-aminoethylamino）propyl functionalized silica gel immobilized copper（Ⅱ） catalyst （10 mol%） in methanol without any additives and bases. The reactions generated the corresponding cross-coupling products in good yields. Furthermore, silica-supported copper can be recovered and recycled by a simple filtration procedure and used for five consecutive trials without decreases in activity.     

Supramolecular assemblies from single-chain hydrocarbon fluorocarbon hybrid bolaamphiphiles

Three types of single-chain hydrocarbon fluorocarbon hybrid bolaamphiphiles were synthesized.They readily formed different kinds of organized supramolecular assemblies,including vesicles,tapes,and micellar fibers,in aqueous solution.The aggregates morphology was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) after negative staining.The superstructures of these aggregates seemed to be determined by the geometry and the head group's properties of the corresponding amphiphiles.     

The discovery of polymer‐clay hybrids

The first successful example of a polymer‐clay hybrid was nylon‐clay hybrid (NCH), which is a nano‐meter‐sized composite of nylon‐6 and 1‐nm‐thick exfoliated aluminosilicate layers of the clay mineral. NCH was found and developed at Toyota Central Research and Development Laboratories over 17 years ago. The NCH containing a few weight percentages of clay exhibits superior properties such as high modulus, high strength, and good gas‐barrier properties. The key for the discovery of NCH was the polymerization of a nylon monomer in the interlayer space of the clay. This highlight presents the development of NCH from its discovery to its commercialization. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 819–824, 2004     

Composition and thermal stability of SiO2-based hybrid materials TEOS-MTEOS system

Hybrid materials with different amounts of organics permanently bound on the inorganic network obtained in the TEOS-MTEOS (tetraethoxysilan-methyltriethoxysilan) system are used for obtaining coatings with different optical and mechanical properties. To study the thermal stability of the mentioned materials, compositions with different molar ratios of the precursors were prepared. The influence of the solvent and water amounts on the gelation process was also investigated. The gels obtained were characterised by IR spectrometry and their decomposition temperatures were determined by DTA/TG. Thermal stability of the gels is rather influenced by their composition than the conditions of the gelation process. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Immobilization of copper in organic-inorganic hybrid materials: a highly efficient and reusable catalyst for the Ullmann diaryl etherification

The immobilization of copper in organic-inorganic hybrid materials catalyzing the Ullmann reaction has been described. Phenols reacted with aryl iodides, aryl bromides and aryl chlorides smoothly in the presence of a 3-(2-aminoethylamino)propyl functionalized silica gel immobilized copper catalyst. The protocol involved the use of DMSO as the solvent, and potassium fluoride as the base. The reactions generated the corresponding cross-coupling products in good to excellent yields. Furthermore, the silica-supported copper could be recovered and recycled by a simple filtration of the reaction solution and used for 10 consecutive trials without loss of its reactivity.     

Dispersion of silica nano-particles in sol-gel hybrid resins for fabrication of multi-scale hybrid nanocomposite

Multi-scale hybrid nanocomposites containing both ∼15 nm silica colloids and ∼2 nm oligosiloxanes in a methacryl polymer matrix were newly designed and fabricated. Colloidal silica sols were dispersed in methacryl oligosiloxanes nano-hybrid resins synthesized by sol-gel reaction of methacryloxypropylmethoxysilane and diphenylsilanediol. On the basis of TEM and SANS analyses, it was confirmed that the silica colloids were compatibly dispersed and different sizes of colloidal silica and oligosiloxanes co-exist in the solutions. Multi-scale hybrid nanocomposites fabricated by UV and thermal curing with incorporation of silica colloids in the nano-hybrid materials show enhanced mechanical and thermal characteristics.     

Imide-siloxane block copolymer/silica hybrid membranes: preparation, characterization and gas separation properties

Imide-siloxane block copolymer/silica hybrid membranes with covalent bonds were prepared via sol–gel reaction. The structural informations of these hybrid membranes were obtained by using Fourier transform-infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), ²⁹Si nuclear magnetic resonance (²⁹Si NMR), XPS and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The gas separation properties of the hybrid membranes were also investigated in terms of organosiloxane (PDMS) or silica content at various temperatures. In the hybrids, the addition of PDMS phase increased the permeabilities of gases such as He, CO₂, O₂, and N₂, indicating that the gas transport occurred mainly through rubbery organic matrix. Meanwhile, the PDMS phase contributed the decreased gas selectivities to nitrogen but the reduction in selectivities was very small in comparison with other siloxane containing polymeric membranes. This might be due to the restriction of chain mobility by the existence of inorganic component such as silica network in the hybrids. Additionally, the increase of silica content in these hybrid membranes considerably retarded the falling-off of gas selectivity at elevated temperature. The increase of silica content in hybrid membranes resulted in well-formed silica networks and hence these inorganic components restricted the plasticization of organic matrix by the thermal segmental motion of organic components, leading to preventing the large decrease of the gas selectivity.     

Efficient simulation of general stochastic hybrid systems

General Stochastic Hybrid System (SHS) are characterised by Stochastic Differential Equations (SDEs) with discontinuities and Poisson jump processes. SHS are useful in model based design of Cyber-Physical System (CPS) controllers under uncertainty. Industry standard model based design tools such as Simulink/Stateflow® are inefficient when simulating, testing, and validating SHS, because of dependence on fixed-step Euler–Maruyama (EM) integration and discontinuity detection. We present a novel efficient adaptive step-size simulation/integration technique for general SHSs modelled as a network of Stochastic Hybrid Automatons (SHAs). We propose a simulation algorithm where each SHA in the network executes synchronously with the other, at an integration step-size computed using adaptive step-size integration. Ito’ multi-dimensional lemma and the inverse sampling theorem are leveraged to compute the integration step-size by making the SDEs and Poisson jump rate integration dependent upon discontinuities. Existence and convergence analysis along with experimental results show that the proposed technique is substantially faster than Simulink/Stateflow®when simulating general SHSs.     

Organopolysiloxanes as Chemically Sensitive Coatings for Optical Fibers

Various types of UV-curable organically modified siloxanes have been synthesized by the sol-gel method with the aim of fabricating chemically sensitive coatings for silica optical fibers. The refractive index of the coating material can be tailored in the range from 1.46 to 1.56 and sensitivity towards CO2 is achieved by incorporation of amino groups. The interaction of the cured layers with CO2 or with hydrocarbons has been studied in immersion experiments. Both the reaction of CO2 with incorporated amino groups and the penetration of hydrocarbons into the layer induce changes of the light absorption coefficient and the refractive index of the coating which are detected by measuring the output light intensity from the fiber.