Photo‐cured organic–inorganic hybrid composites of acrylated castor oil and methacrylate‐substituted polysilsesquioxane

Abstract

AbstractAcrylated castor oil (ACO) was synthesized by the reaction of castor oil and acryloyl chloride in the presence of triethylamine. The 1H‐NMR and Fourier transform infrared spectral analyses of ACO showed that the hydroxy groups of castor oil are completely esterified and that the number of acrylate groups per triglyceride is 2.56. The ACO was photo‐cured with methacrylate‐substituted polysilsesquioxane (ME‐PSQ) prepared from 3‐(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate and tetramethylammonium hydroxide in the ACO/ME‐PSQ weight ratio of 20/0, 20/1, 20/2, and 20/3. Although the mechanical reinforcement effect by the incorporation of PSQ frameworks was observed when evaluated from dynamic mechanical analysis and flexural test, the reinforcement effect showed a tendency to decline with a higher ME‐PSQ content. The TEM observation revealed that the PSQ is homogeneously distributed in the matrix for the cured ACO/ME‐PSQ (20/1), while some aggregated particles of the PSQ were observed for the cured AC/ME‐PSQ (20/2). The 5% weight loss temperature of the cured ACO/ME‐PSQ rose with ME‐PSQ content. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012