New Organic–Inorganic Hybrids with Azo-dye Content

Five new organic–inorganic hybrids were generated from their corresponding co-polymer structures using thermal cross-linking process. The hybrid structures contain covalently-linked azobenzene units provided by the previous co-polymerization step between 3-methacryloxypropyl trimethoxy-silane and five novel azo-monomers. All structures have been characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy and TGA-MS analysis. The soluble co-polymers have also been characterized by SEC, elemental analysis and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. It has been found that the thermal stability of the hybrid structures was enhanced, as compared to the soluble co-polymers, due to the newly generated Si–O–Si bonds. The newly prepared structures show a high content in chromophore units, as indicated by 1H-NMR spectra and elemental analyses.