Silicon-containing polymers polysilazanes

The most important class of silicon-containing polymers that have not yet been covered are the polysilazanes, shown in 7.1. These polymers, or precursors to them, are generally prepared by the reaction of organic-substituted chlorosilanes with ammonia or amines as is shown in reaction (l).32... 

Another special type of silicone containing polymers is polysilazanes. These materials are used in for the preparation of high performance ceramics, silicon nitride, etc. Polysilazane can be prepared from substituted methylchlorodisilanes and gaseous ammonia in the following reaction [4] ... 

Summary A brief review of the preparation of silicon containing preceramic polymers to prepare silicon carbide and silicon carbonitride fibers is given. Methylchlorodisilanes are converted to polysilanes and polysilazanes which yield ceramic fibers after meltspinning, curing, and pyrolysis. 

Organometallic polymer precursors offer the potential to manufacture shaped forms of advanced ceramic materials using low temperature processing. Polysilazanes, compounds containing Si-N bonds in the polymer backbone, can be used as precursors to silicon nitride containing ceramic materials. This chapter provides an overview of the general synthetic approaches to polysilazanes with particular emphasis on the synthesis of preceramic polysilazanes. 

The coupling of a trialkylsilane and an amine with loss of H2, catalyzed by palladium on carbon, was first reported by Sommer and Citron in 1967.178 More recent work by Laine and Blum has involved the application of catalytic dehydrocoupling of compounds containing Si-H and N-H bonds to form aligo- and polysilazanes. These polymers, with silicon-nitrogen bonds in the backbone, are useful precursors to silicon nitride. In the presence of Ru3(CO)i2, silicon-nitrogen bonds are cleaved and reformed... 

In the pyrolysis of a preceramic polymer, the maximum temperature used is important. If the maximum temperature is too low, residual functionality (C-H, N-H, and Si-H bonds in the case of polysilazanes) will still be present. On the other hand, too high a pyrolysis temperature can be harmful because of solid-state reactions that can take place. For instance, if the polysilazane-derived silicon carbonitride contains a large amount of free carbon, a high-temperature reaction between carbon and silicon nitride (equation 1) (7) is a possibility. 

There are several structurally different types or polymers that are suitable precursors for ternary Si-C-N ceramics. By far the most investigated precursors are polysilazanes of the general type [Si(R )(R°)N(R°)] (R, R°, R° = H, alkyl, aryl, alkenyl, etc.). In contrast to the limited number of starting compounds, H SiCl(4 ) (x = 0-3) as the silicon source and NH3 or H2N-NH2 as the nitrogen source for synthesis of polysilazanes as precursors for binary Si-N ceramics, the chemistry of polycarbosilazanes, that is, carbon-containing or modified polysilazanes, is very multifaceted. The attachment of various organic groups to the silicon atoms allows adjustment of their physicochemical properties, to control their thermolysis chemistry, and also to influence materials properties. The first... 

Polycyclomethylsilazane (PCMS). Polysilazanes containing organic groups on the silicon backbone atoms are more typical as preceramic polymers, especially those substituted with methyl groups [7-12]. Polymers consisting of the monomeric units -[MeSiHNH]- are "isomeric" to the N-methylsilazanes discussed above. Comparison between the pyrolytic properties of the two is, Aerefore, of great interest. 

This chapter discusses the development of thermosetting preceramic polymers, emphasizing peroxide-curable polysilazanes. These polymers are excellent precursors for both silicon nitride and silicon carbide. Vinyl-substituted polysilazanes may be readily thermoset with peroxide initiators. In addition, a new class of polysilazanes which contain peroxide substituents directly boxmd to the polymer has been developed The utility of peroxide-cured polysilazane precursors for the formation of silicon nitride articles has been demonstrated. 

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