Autori: Bogdana Simionescu, Mihaela Olaru, Magda Aflori, Emil C. Buruiana, Corneliu Cotofana

Editorial: Solid State Phenomena, 151, p.17-23, 2009.

Rezumat:

The aim of the study was to synthesize and characterize silsesquioxane-based
hybrid nanocomposites with self-assembling properties to be used in monumental stone
conservation. Through radical polymerization of 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate, a
monomer that contains both methacrylate and silica phases, in the presence of a primary amine
surfactant, at different silica precursor:ethanol molar ratios, new types of hybrid nanocomposites, in
which silica was dispersed as domains with typical sizes in the nanometer range, were obtained.
The self-assembling properties of the synthesized composites have been ascribed to the
supramolecular assembling abilities of the surfactants, as well as to the combination of linear,
ladder, and cagelike fragments of silsesquioxane type. The incorporation of surfactant within the
sol-gel derived matrix may also lead to the obtaining of compounds that avoid cracking of the
hybrid gel while drying inside the stone.

Cuvinte cheie: nanocomposite, silsesquioxane, self-assembling