Organo–silica hybrid functional nanomaterials: how do organic bridging groups and silsesquioxane moieties work hand-in-hand?

Bridged polysilsesquioxanes (BPS) are a class of versatile functional hybrid materials with tunable chemical, physical and mechanical properties. This tutorial review describes recent advances of these functional hybrid nanomaterials. The review includes control of factors affecting nanometre scale morphology, the preparation of spherical hybrid nanoparticles, along with applications in fields including energy, optics and electronics. Special emphasis will be made regarding the synergy between the organic component of the hybrid material and the polysilsesquioxane moieties.