Polyhedral oligomeric silesesquioxnaes (POSS): Silicon based monomers and their use in the preparation of hybrid polyurethanes

CHED 704

Nicholas Herr, Hope Klukovich, and Robert Racicot. Department of Chemistry, United States Air Force Academy, 2355 Fairchild Drive, Suite 2N225, Usafa, CO 80840
This work presents the creation of a novel hybrid polyurethane/POSS polymer by incorporating various loading percentages of a cylcopentyl T8 POSS cage onto the backbone of a DEFT class H, type 1 polyurethane coating. The POSS cage of Cy7T8(OSiMe2H) was attached to a reactive diol of trimethylolpropane allyl ether via a silation reaction. This compound was then incorporated into a polyurethane backbone with varying percentages of T8 cages by reacting the POSS diol with polytetramethyleneglycol and hexamethylene diisocyanate to create a step-growth polymer backbone. Coatings of the hybrid polymer were sprayed onto AA2024 aluminum alloys substrates and evaluated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and contact angle measurements.