NCPTT

Hybrid Plastics' president Joe Lichtenhan explains how POSS is prepared.

NCPTT and Hybrid Plastics are partnering to make and use POSS modified polymers in preservation applications. NCPTT’s Executive director, Kirk Cordell, and the Materials Research Program Staff visited Hybrid Plastics Inc. in Hattiesburg Miss. on Monday March 30, 2009. During the site visit led by Joe Lichtenhan, President of Hybrid Plastics, researchers and preservationists discussed the potential of developing new nanotechnologies for application to preservation problems. From making better stone consolidants to providing archeological site stability, the group explored possible applications of POSS modified polymers. POSS, which stands for Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane, is a monomeric material made up of silica and oxygen which can be modified with a variety of organic compounds. When reacted together, a hybrid polymer can be made which has properties between a ceramic and a plastic. The properties of the POSS modified polymer can be fine-tuned based on the organic ligands placed on the POSS backbone.

No related posts.