DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL ORGANIC/INORGANIC HYBRID MATERIALS

THE NEED FOR NEW MATERIALS WITH IMPROVED PROPERTIES IS APPARENT FROM THE SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF TIME AND MONEY DEVOTED TO THIS RESEARCH. HOWEVER, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE USING CURRENT TECHNOLOGIES TO PRODUCE MATERIALS WITH MANY COMBINATIONS OF PROPERTIES THAT WOULD HAVE HIGH COMMERCIAL VALUE. HOWEVER, ORGANIC/INORGANIC HYBRID (OIH) MATERIALS OFFER A UNIQUE ALTERNATIVE TO CONVENTIONAL MULTIPHASE MATERIALS. OIH MATERIALS INVOLVE THE COMBINATION OF ORGANIC AND INORGANIC MATERIALS ON A MOLECULAR LEVEL, AVOIDING THE LIMITATIONS OF CONVENTIONAL MULTICOMPONENT MATERIALS (I.E., PROBLEMS WITH UNEVEN DISPERSION, LIMITED MOLECULAR MIXING, AND WEAK INTERFACES BETWEEN PHASES). THE GOAL OF THIS PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP POLYMERIC OIH MATERIALS WITH SUPERIOR THERMAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES BYCOMBINING AN ORGANIC AND AN INORGANIC PRECURSOR. TO ACHIEVE OUR GOAL WE WILL EXAMINE HOW REACTION VARIABLES CAN BE VARIED TO CONTROL THE MORPHOLOGY AND THE THERMAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF THE OIH MATERIALS. IN PHASE I, WE WILL DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF PREPARINGTWO TYPES OF OIH MATERIALS WITH SUPERIOR PROPERTIES: 1) POLYMERS THAT COMBINE HIGH STRENGTH AND HIGH PERMEABILITY, AND 2) CERAMICS THAT ARE LESS BRITTLE AND EASIER TO PROCESS THAN CONVENTIONAL CERAMICS. THE MOST PROMISING OF THESE MATERIALS WILL BE OPTIMIZED IN PHASE II, IN PREPARATION FOR PHASE III COMMERCIALIZATION.