Structural and mechanical properties of Laponite-PEG hybrid films

Kazuhiro Shikinaka; Kazuto Aizawa; Yoshihiko Murakami; Yoshihito Osada; Masatoshi Tokita; Junji Watanabe; Kiyotaka Shigehara

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2011.11.079

Structural and mechanical properties of Laponite-PEG hybrid films

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2012 Mar 1;369(1):470-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2011.11.079. Epub 2011 Dec 8.

Authors

Kazuhiro Shikinaka¹, Kazuto Aizawa, Yoshihiko Murakami, Yoshihito Osada, Masatoshi Tokita, Junji Watanabe, Kiyotaka Shigehara

Affiliation

¹ Graduate School of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Koganei, Japan.

PMID: 22200328
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2011.11.079

Abstract

Inorganic/organic hybrids were obtained by the sol-gel type organic modification reaction of Laponite sidewalls with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) bearing alkoxysiloxy terminal functionality. By casting an aqueous dispersion of the hybrid, the flexible and transparent hybrid films were obtained. Regardless of the inorganic/organic component ratio, the hybrid film had the ordered structure of Laponite in-plane flat arrays. The mechanical strength of hybrid films was drastically improved by the presence of cross-linking among alkoxysilyl functionalities of PEG terminals and the absence of PEG crystallines. Hybrid films, especially those that consisted of PEG with short chain, showed good mechanical properties that originate from quasi-homogeneous dispersion of components due to anchoring of PEG terminal to Laponite sidewall and interaction of PEG to Laponite surface.