Preparation of styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer/Si-O Network nanocomposites by the sol-gel process

A new family of organic-inorganic hybrid materials has been prepared by incorporating Si-O network nanoclusters covalently into a styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer matrix via the sol-gel approach. Infrared absorption, atomic force microscopy, thermal and mechanical analyses were used to characterize the structure and properties of the composites. The results show that these newly developed composites have unique mechanical and thermal properties and are highly transparent. The Si-O network nanoclusters are uniformly dispersed in the polymer matrix.