Studying the Thermal Properties of Poly(methyl methacrylate)- Methyl Red Grafted Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane Nanocomposites For Non-linear Applications

Because of the rapid growth of optics and electro-optics and also the applications such as optical switches, memories and modulators, there is a strong demand for materials withnonlinear optical responses. Among these materials, azo benzene chromophores are one of the best ones due to theirnon-centro symmetrical and cis-trans isomerisation; But they exhibit low thermal stability. Grafting organic-inorganic hybrids to organic chromophores is expected to enhancethermal stability. Nano hybrids seem to combine the advantages of both organic and inorganic compounds [1,2].Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) is a nano scale cage like molecule with a silica core surrounded by eight organic corner groups. By these functional groups POSSbased compounds can be synthesized with novel and revolutionary properties [3]. In this study, thermal properties of POSS based Methyl Rednanocomposites will be characterized using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). The resulting composite is expected to show nonlinear optical properties (not shown here).