Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2011
Hybrid materials based on polysiloxanes and metal oxides (SiO2, TiO2, ZrO2) were prepared by hydrosilation of allyl acetoacetate (AAA) modified metal alkoxides (M(OR)4; M = Ti, Zr; R = ethyl, isopropyl) or vinyl triethoxysilane with poly(dimethylsiloxane-co-hydrosiloxane) (PDMS-co-PMHS). The obtained compounds acted as single-source precursors in the sol-gel process. Various spectroscopic methods showed the complete functionalization of the polysiloxane chains with the complexes. When alcohols were used as solvents in the sol-gel process, hybrid nanoparticles were obtained, as observed by dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and spectroscopic methods such as NMR and FT-IR.