Antifouling Systems Based on a Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane-Based Hexyl Imidazolium Salt Adsorbed on Copper Nanoparticles Supported on Titania

The reaction of octakis(3-chloropropyl)octasilsesquioxane with four equivalents of 1-hexylimidazole or 1-decylimidazole gave two products labelled as HQ-POSS (hexyl-imidazolium quaternized POSS) and DQ-POSS (decyl-imidazolium quaternized POSS) as regioisomer mixtures. An investigation of the biological activity of these two compounds revealed the higher antimicrobial performances of HQ-POSS against Gram-positive and Gram-negative microorganisms, proving its broad-spectrum activity. Due to its very viscous nature, HQ-POSS was adsorbed in variable amounts on the surface of biologically active oxides to gain advantages regarding the expendability of such formulations from an applicative perspe…