PREFACETHE WORLD is BUILT FROM SILICON-BASED polymers. Silicate materials in many shapes or forms account for more than 90% of the land mass. Technologies associated with these materials have been developed through recorded history, but the science underlying these materials is, relatively, still in its infancy. The first systematic study of silicon chemistry was carried out in the first two decades of this century. The first useful synthetic organosilicon polymers, the polysiloxanes, were developed in the late 1930s, and a new industry based on these synthetic polymers was born in the early 1940s. This industry has grown rapidly worldwide to the point that it is now a multi-billion-dollar endeavor.Scientists in this field recognize that silicon polymers that have been developed commercially constitute merely "the tip of an iceberg" or, possibly, a silicon tetrahedron. The bulk of the silicon industry today is, in fact, based on one polymer system, poly(dimethylsiloxane) and a large family of materials obtained by minor modifications of this polymer. Imagine the prospects for other polymer systems based on silicon! History will show that during the last decade of the 20th century new families of silicon-based materials were harnessed to provide the growth that, in the first decades of the 21st century, firmly established synthetic silicon polymers as unique materials complementary to organic polymer systems. Is this a rash prediction? Maybe.In the 1987 Chemical Abstracts, the section on silicon polymers contains more than 3000 entries and lists more than 1000 authors. The topics span polysilalkylenes to polysilazanes. To pull together a representative group of workers from this broad and, as yet, ununified field was an exciting challenge. The International Topical Workshop "Advances in Silicon-Based Polymer Science," held in Makaha, HI, and on which this volume was based, was designed to summarize the recent progress in the understanding of silicon polymers, seek unifying principles, and provide insight into the possible directions for future scientific and technological advances in the field. The Workshop drew together current research in the areas of synthesis, properties, chemistry, and applications of silicon-based polymers. Plenary presentations provided critical overviews and perspectives of rapidly advancing fields. Poster sessions provided a forum for the presentation of important new research results.The challenge of silicon-based polymers is all the more intriguing because of the rapid growth in the past decade in the number of structural types available and our increasing understanding of the special and highly flexible role that silicon plays in these materials. The familiar polysiloxanes are renowned for their stability and insulating qualities. The study of poly- silanes (polysilylenes) is driven by useful and highly adjustable photoinstability and capabilities for charge and energy conduction. Millenniumold silicate ceramics have now been supplemented by the new ceramic materials derived from pyro...
