Template Mediated Hybrid from Dendrimer

Novel dendrimer-titania hybrids were prepared in this work from hydroxy and amine terminated polyamidoamine dendrimer (PAMAM generation 4) and titanium alkoxide by an in-situ sol-gel process in presence of a ligand. Dendritic polymers are chosen because of their unique architectural features. Such dendrimer nanocomposite (DNC) can then be used for optical, catalytic, biomedical applications. The hybrid material formed in situ is found to be transparent, brittle and yellow in colour. The hybrids show higher thermal stability than their organic precursors. This is due to enhanced interaction of the inorganic material with the dendrimer through hydrogen bonding as evidenced by PA-FTIR. XPS studies show predominantly the existence of tetravalent titanium due to titania formation.