Preparation and Characterization of Hydrogel Nanocomposites Based on Oxidized Starch and Incompletely Condensed Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes

Incompletely condensed polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) are nanosized particles (1-3 nanometer) that can be used as reinforcing fillers in hydrogel nanocomposites based on oxidized starch with polymeric cross linkers containing amine groups like chitosan.In this work we have prepared hydrogel nanocomposites based on oxidized starch and incompletely condensed POSS nanomaterials for the first time. POSS nanomaterials synthesized by hydrolysis and condensation method. Different percentages of POSS nanomaterials were composited to different ratios of oxidized starch and chitosan. The mechanical and thermal properties increased for composites containing POSS nanomaterials. The swelling percentage varies in different ratios of oxidized starch/chitosan and maximum of swelling percentage was 970%. In many cases the swelling percentage and solubility decreased for samples containing POSS nanomaterials.Also these hydrogel nanocomposites were characterized with various methods like FT-IR, SEM, XRD, TGA and DSC.