PREFACE, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, Introduction: My Favorite Element

Abstract

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...

Chain Conformation of Poly(dimethyl siloxane) at the Air/Water Interface by Sum Frequency Generation

“…Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) is the central pillar of siloxane polymers. , It exhibits distinctive properties over those of hydrocarbon polymers. Its surface tension is lower than most other polymers except those based on aliphatic fluorocarbon moieties.…”

Rheological properties of silicon polymer networks: The influence of the crosslink density

“…Silicon polymers [1][2][3][4][5] have some typical characteristics: high flexibility of the macromolecular chain, an extremely low glass-transition temperature, good thermal stability, excellent chemical inertia (due to the strength of the OSiOOOSiO chemical bond, 440 kJ/mol), very good resistance to photoaging, and an ability to develop some polar interactions with any polar surface in contact. These characteristics have led to a wide range of technical applications.…”

New Hyperbranched Poly(siloxysilanes): Variation of the Branching Pattern and End-Functionalization

“…In particular, the synthesis of hyperbranched siloxy-type polymers with terminal silicon hydride groups is an attractive goal as a result of the feasibility of end-group chemical modification by means of the versatile hydrosilation reaction . In this way, the remarkable properties of siloxy-based polymers and their derivatives, which are useful in areas as varied as catalysis and adhesion, or as surface active materials, or even as conducting polymers, would be readily modified and modulated by the use of a hyperbranched structure containing a multiplicity of tunable end groups.…”