Architecture, self-assembly and properties of well-defined hybrid polymers based on polyhedral oligomeric silsequioxane (POSS)

Well-defined hybrid polymers based on polyhedral oligomeric silsequioxane (POSS) with a variety of architectures have been developed, including telechelic polymers, block copolymers and star-shaped polymers. The synthesis, self-assembly and properties of this kind of materials are reviewed. Well-defined POSS-containing hybrid polymers can be constructed by living polymerization techniques, such as ring-opening polymerization and living free-radical polymerization or the combination of living polymerization and coupling reactions, such as click chemistry and hydrosilylation. The self-assembly behavior of well-defined POSS-containing hybrid polymers is also described in detail. The POSS-containing hybrid polymers can self-assemble into nano-scaled aggregates in selective solvents, and form nanostructures in bulk. Some of the interesting self-assembly morphologies are remarkably different from those formed from the conventional purely organic amphiphilic polymers. Well-defined POSS-containing hybrid polymers have shown the unexpected properties, which lead to unlimited possibilities for promising applications, such as biomedicine, electronic, optical, magnetic nanodevices, sensors and stimulated catalysts. We highlight several recent examples of these applications.