UCT Specialties Petrarch® Silanes and crosslinkers used in the study of the dynamic response of transiently trapped entanglements in polymer networks

Model poly(dimethylsiloxane) networks were obtained by a hydrosilylation reaction, based on the addition of hydrogen silanes from cross-linker molecules to end vinyl groups present in prepolymer molecules. UCT Specialties materials including a difunctional prepolymer, a,u-divinyl poly(dimethylsiloxane) and mixtures of two monodisperse monofunctional prepolymers, u-vinyl poly(dimethylsiloxane) with different molar masses were employed.

UCT Specialties Phenyltris(dimethylsiloxy)silane was used as cross-linker and a Pt salt was employed as catalyst for the cross-linking reaction.  Monofunctional prepolymers (B1,i) were synthesized by anionic polymerization using n-butyllithium as initiator, n-hexane as solvent and THF as polymerization promoter, which resulted in polymers with a narrow molar mass distribution.