THE EFFECT OF POLYHEDRAL OLIGOMERIC SILSESQUIOXANE (POSS) ON MORPHOLOGY AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF POLYOXYMETHYLENE (POM)

Polyoxymethylene nanocomposites with octakis (dimethylsiloxy, ethyl epoxycyclohexy) octasilsesquioxanes (POSS) were obtained during melt blending. The influence of the POSS nanoparticles on the morphology and mechanical properties of polyoxymethylene (POM) nanocomposites properties was investigated. POM/POSS nanocomposites were produced by means of melt mixing of POM with POSS; with a POSS content of 0.5, and 1 wt.%. The uniaxial elongation test of polyoxymethylene has been performed to determine the influence of POSS on the mechanical properties of the new hybrid material. The dispersion of POSS in the POM nanocomposites was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). According to the mechanical investigation, it was found that the process of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) addition leads to an enhancement of both the tensile strength and stiffness, where the most encouraging results were achieved for the POM/POSS nanocomposites with 0.5 wt.% POSS. The SEM studies allowed us to provide direct evidence of better interfacial adhesion between the POSS particles and POM matrix, which may lead to better mechanical properties, specially tensile strength, elongation and stiffness. The obtained polymer composites POM/POSS are an interesting group of materials of construction, showing very good performance.