Physicochemical Investigation of the Properties of Functionalized Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes as Pseudophase in Aqueous Medium

Abstract

Colloidal solutions of ionic liquids extend the concepts of surface science. Cationic oligomeric silsesquioxanes formed the silsesquioxane core and cationic organic substituents, namely OSS(C₃N⁺Br⁻)_n and OSS(C₁₀N⁺Br⁻)_n, are amorphous with a glass transition temperature below 0°C and possess prerequisites for the formation of supramolecular aggregates in aqueous solutions. The hydrodynamic size and zeta potential values of colloidal species were determined by dynamic and electrophoretic light scattering. The local surface potential and acidity were estimated by the spectrophotometric study of acid-base equilibria of bound bromophenol blue. The kinetic effect of these colloidal species in the idea of micellar rate effect emphasizes the importance of the “diverting” effect of cationic head groups introduced recently. The nanospecies morphology, size, and charge densities vary with the length of the alkyl substituent of OSS. This modification opens up potentially broader applications of cationic oligomeric silsesquioxanes, which are synthesized as ionic liquids. The behavior in an aqueous solution determines the future environmental fate of the ionic liquids, which are defined as environment-friendly compounds, basically as non-volatile and non-flammable.