Water soluble polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane based amphiphilic hybrid polymers: Synthesis, self-assembly, and applications

Abstract

Due to its unique nanocage-like architecture and properties, polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) has received tremendous attention from researchers in areas ranging from material science and engineering to biomedical fields. This has created opportunities for the applications of POSS in non-traditional areas such as nanomedicines, Li-ion batteries, and many more. Thanks to the recent advances in polymer chemistry, the POSS molecules have been successfully incorporated into well-defined organic polymeric structures leading to the creation of a plethora of well-defined hybrid nano architectures with novel properties and applications. POSS nanocage is typically a strongly hydrophobic entity, and since recently, its integration into amphiphilic macromolecular design has been a fascinating area of research activity with many interesting studies ranging from academic research to practical applications. This article encompasses new ideas and research work carried out over the last several years in this relatively new area of water soluble/amphiphilic hybrids with a focus on their synthesis, self-assembly, and applications. In this article, for convenience of the readers, various POSS based amphiphilic polymers have been grouped into telechelic, hemitelechelic, esotelechelic, block copolymers, random copolymers, and star-like polymers. Their synthesis, self-assembly, particularly in aqueous medium, and their potential applications in various fields are thoroughly reviewed.