New Hybrid Inorganic/Organic Block Copolymers as Templates for the Formation of Mesostructured Materials

ABSTRACTAmphiphilic block copolymers were prepared with poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) as the hydrophobic unit. The hydrophilic block was composed of either a poly (ethylene oxide) or a functionalized polysiloxane unit. The polymer based on polysiloxane blocks only, represents one of the first examples of a new class of surfactants with a purely inorganic Si-O backbone. Beside their potential use as templates for the synthesis of mesostructured inorganic materials, these new polymers offer the possibility of being transformed into porous mesostructured silica-based material by controlled pyrolysis.