Polycarbosilanes as Precursors to Ceramics and as Functional Polymeric Materials

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Prof. Leonard Interrante, and coPIs Thomas M. Apple and Chang Ryu, all of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, are supported by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry program for their research that focuses on the synthesis and study of a class of organosilicon polymers that contain Si atoms bridged by methylene groups These precursors have possible applications as precursors to ceramics and as functional polymeric materials. Solid-state NMR spectroscopy, optical microscopy and other methods, will be used to monitor the processes of polymer phase separation, cross-linking and pyrolysis to SiC/BN ceramic mixtures. Additionally, the graft copolymers of poly(silylenemethylene)s and block copolymers containing poly(carbosiloxane)s will be explored to achieve the preparation of Si-based ceramics in the form of mesoporous solids, nanoparticles of controlled shapes and sizes, or as ordered arrays of the ceramic phase as dots or lines on a substrate surface. The proposed research seeks to extend the understanding of polymer, particularly graft and block copolymer, phase separation to include polycarbosilane- and polycarbosiloxane-containing polymers, and to explore the prospect that such phase separation can be used to obtain nanostructured Si-based ceramic materials with predictable and controlled microstructures or final forms.This study of polymer precursors to ceramics will extend the understanding of graft and block copolymer phase separation to include polycarbosilane- and polycarbosiloxane-containing polymers. Also, the prospect that such phase separation can be used to obtain nanostructured Si-based ceramic materials with predictable and controlled microstructures or final forms will be explored. This research will provide synthetic routes to metal- or semiconductor-containing ceramic nanocomposites that may have a variety of applications including low-k films, thermal and chemically stable elastomers, and ionic electrolyte materials. Graduate students, undergraduate students and postdoctoral associates will receive excellent training in synthetic materials methodology and the study of polymeric precursors to ceramic materials in an interdisciplinary inorganic chemistry program.