Synthesis of organic–inorganic polymer hybrids from poly(vinyl chloride) and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane via CH/π interaction

The synthesis of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC)/polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) polymer hybrids was performed utilizing CH/π interaction. Poly(vinyl chloride) as an organic component was dissolved in THF with octaphenethylsilsesquioxane (Phenethyl-POSS) or octacyclohexylsilsesquioxane (Cyclohexyl-POSS) as an inorganic component. The resulting mixture was placed at 40 °C for 2 weeks. The obtained polymer hybrid was dried in vacuo at 60 °C for 2 days. The transparent polymer hybrids were obtained when Phenethyl-POSS was employed as an inorganic component. In contrast, polymer hybrid became turbid when Cyclohexyl-POSS was used. These results suggest that the CH/π interaction was found to act as an important role for the dispersion of Phenethyl-POSS in the PVC matrix.