Bagher Eftekhari-Sis

Since their discovery in the 1960s, polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS), have been used in the development of advanced organic-inorganic hybrid nanomaterials. Recently POSS, as a new type of nanostructured hybrid materials, has gained considerable interests in the preparation of hybrid polymeric nanocomposites. The chemical formula of POSS is (RSiO1.5)n where R is the organic component and n is an even number 6, 8, or 10. The TnRm nomenclature is also used to define POSS molecular compositions where Tn and Rm refer to the number of Si and organic functionalities, respectively. The most common and stable POSS is T8R8 which is also the smallest POSS with size of 1–3 nm. The eight organic groups in T8R8 impart good solubility to the POSS in organic solvents and good compatibility with polymer matrices. Here we have synthesized octa-vinyl POSS and used it as a nano cross-linker in the polymerization reaction in order to obtain polymeric materials to adsorb dyes from wastewater. Octa-aminopropyl POSS was also prepared and used as a core of nanomaterials to support Ag and Co nanoparticles in order to remove nitrophenol from wastewater.