Functionalize hiybrite material

The main goal of this research is to develop new nanomanufacturing techniques capable of linking a wide range of materials of different scales and properties to yield various multifunctional materials. More specifically, the proposal describes synthesis and hierarchical assembly of dendrimers based on melamine have been covalently attached to the sol-gel surface modified silica, chyrsotile, and glass fiber with convergent and divergent approaches. These approaches yield different products.Each step of the synthesis can be monitored with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The purity of the materials were checked by TLC and purified with column chromatography and the structures were elucidated with 1H- and 13C-NMR.The convergent approach, which relies on the solution-phase synthesis of the dendrimer before its attachment onto silica gel. Different generation of the dendrimer used in the preparation of these composites and without apparent defects in the dendrimer structure. Materials prepared with the divergent approach show increasing percentages of organic material with each generation, but the dendrimers show structural defects including incomplete branching. In a survey of sequestration potential, materials obtained with the divergent approach removed more atrazine from solution than the more homogeneous materials obtained from the convergent approach.