Date of Award

1-1-2010

Document Type

Campus Access Dissertation

Department

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Sub-Department

Chemistry

First Advisor

Hans Conrad Zur Loye

Abstract

Interest in the surface modification of ternary oxides for incorporation into polymer dielectric composites has been increasing recently. Traditionally, these surface modifications have been achieved via organosilanes. While an excellent approach for preparing surface-modified oxides, hetero-condensation between the organosilane coupling molecule and the oxide leads to the formation of Si-O-M bonds, while homocondensation between two coupling molecules leads to the undesirable formation of Si-O-Si bonds. Accordingly, the structure of the hybrids based on organosilane coupling molecules is governed by the direct competition of the hetero-condensation and homocondensation reactions. This limitation can be circumvented by the use of organophosphorus coupling compounds, offering opportunity for the discovery of new materials.

Through successful utilization of the mineralizing and chelating properties of organophosphonic acids, ternary oxides have been converted into novel layered mixed metal organophosphonates through hydrothermal or melt methods. The zur Loye group has been interested in preparing polymer dielectric composites. A new series of mixed metal organophosphonates (AB(RPO3)3) were synthesized, fully characterized, and incorporated into polystyrene (PS) for dielectric measurements. The affect of the cation's size and polarizability, as well as the polarizability of the pendant organic group was investigated with regards to the resulting dielectric constant of the AB(RPO3)3-PS composites.

Rights

© 2010, Arthur Peter Barber III

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