Polyimides (PIs) such as Kapton are used extensively in spacecraft thermal blankets, solar arrays, and space inflatable structures. Atomic oxygen (AO) in low Earth orbit (LEO) causes severe degradation of Kapton. SiO2 coatings impart remarkable oxidation resistance and have been widely used to protect Kapton, yet imperfections in the SiO2 application process and micrometeoroid/debris impact in ...

The dispersal, quiescent crystallization kinetics and morphology of a series of unique polyethylene ‒polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (PE-POSS) nanocomposite blends is presented. POSS molecules with long linear alkyl-chain substituents were blended at one composition into a commercial low density polyethylene. Time-resolved Smalland WideAngle X-Ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) and thermal techni...

Hierarchical self-assembled structures provide a “bottom-up” method to utilize relatively simple and low cost processes to generate nanoscale patterns (usually through amphiphilic low molecular weight surfactants or block copolymers). These self-assembled structures from block copolymers are generally driven by a combination of repulsive and attractive interactions between the block segments an...

Herein, we demonstrate a facile methodology to synthesis a novel methacrylic phosphonic acid (PA)-functionalized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSSs) via thiol-ene click reaction using octamercapto thiol-POSS and ethylene glycol methacrylate phosphate (EGMP) monomer. The presence of phosphonic acid moieties and POSS-cage structure in POSS-S-PA was confirmed by Fourier transform infrare...

The pretilt angles of liquid crystal molecules can be controlled by using conventional polyimide (PI) alignment material doped with different concentrations of Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsequioxanes (POSS) nanoparticles, which have been observed to spontaneously induce vertical alignment. The addition of POSS in the homogenous PI changes the surface energy of the alignment layer and generates a v...

We report the development of thermoresponsive magnetic hydrogels based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) encapsulation of Fe3O4 magnetic nanostructures (MNS). In particular, we examined the effects of hydrogels encapsulated with poly-ethylene glycol (PEG) and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) surface modified Fe3O4 MNS on magnetic resonance (MR) T2 (transverse spin relaxation) contrast e...

Synthetic routes towards monodisperse polyhedral liquid-crystalline silsesquioxanes are described. The liquid-crystalline phase behaviour of these structurally uniform materials, with various silsesquioxane core and mesogenic side-chain structures, were analysed and compared with those of related oligomeric and polymeric materials. Common features of the solid-state behaviour of these organic/i...