Morphology and Thermomechanical Properties of Melt-Mixed Polyoxymethylene/Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane Nanocomposites

The influence of the functionalization of fully condensed POSS cages on the properties of POMbased nanocomposites is studied. POSS with different organic substituents [glycidylethyl, aminopropylisobutyl, and poly(ethylene glycol)] are taken into account and melt mixed with POM. Good dispersion was achieved upon the addition of amino functionalized POSS, leading to an increase on the thermal decomposition temperature under nitrogen atmosphere up to 50 8C. However, mm-size aggregates were observed for other nanocomposites. There is no significant change in other thermal properties of the nanocomposites. The relationships among these effects and the morphological characteristics of the systems were analyzed.