Surface Modification of Gold Nanoparticles with Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane and Incorporation within Polymer Matrices

Abstract

A new approach to achieve polymer-mediated gold ferromagnetic nanocomposites in a polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)-containing random copolymer matrix has been developed. Stable and narrow distributed gold nanoparticles modified by 3-mercaptopropylisobutyl POSS to form Au-POSS nanoparticles are prepared by two-phase liquid-liquid method. These Au-POSS nanoparticles form partial particle aggregation by blending with poly(n-butyl methacrylate) (PnBMA) homopolymer because of poor miscibility between Au-POSS and PnBMA polymer matrix. The incorporation the POSS moiety into the PnBMA main chain as a random copolymer matrix displays well-dispersed gold nanoparticles because the POSS-POSS interaction enhances miscibility between gold nanoparticles and the PnBMA-POSS copolymer matrix. This gold-containing nanocomposite exhibits ferromagnetic phenomenon at room temperature. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 811-819, 2009