2005/09/07 by Amitabha Mitra, David A. Atwood · 1 citation
Chemistry · Materials Science · #Organoboron and organosilicon chemistry #Silicone and Siloxane Chemistry #Synthesis and characterization of novel inorganic/organometallic compounds
paper · doi:10.1002/0470862106.ia201
openalex publication_date 2005/09/07 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/14
Abstract Silicon‐containing polymers, of which polysiloxanes and polysilanes are the most important ones, are becoming more and more important industrially because of their unique properties. Polysiloxanes that contain SiOSi linkage in their structure are most commonly prepared by ring‐opening polymerization of cyclic siloxanes. The monomer for this process is prepared by the ‘Direct Process’. The polysiloxanes are hydrophobic despite having polar SiO bonds in their structures. They possess highly flexible structures with large SiOSi bond angles. They are chemically inert and have good thermal stability, low viscosity, and good gas permeability. These polymers and related copolymers find use in a variety of fields as silicone fluids, elastomers, and resins. Polysilanes consisting of chains exclusively made up of silicon atoms are most commonly prepared by Wurtz coupling reaction. through sodium condensation of dichlorosilanes. The most interesting aspect of their properties is σ‐electron delocalization, which gives rise to many interesting photochemical and photophysical effects like thermochromism, solvatochromism, and ionochromism. These polymers find use in preparation of silicon carbide and as photoresists, photoinitiators, and hole conductors in electrophotography. In this article, the history, synthesis, properties, and application of polysiloxane and polysilane polymers have been reviewed.