Pachnicz, Michal

► Research

Synthesis and Characterization of Homo- and Heterocyclic Functionalized Siloxane Polymers: Towards Polar Melting Gels

Melting gels are inorganic-organic hybrid materials that enable a broad spectrum of functional properties for various applications in optics, electronics, and coatings. These gels are mixed siloxane-silsesquioxane systems that exhibit rigid behavior at room temperature but demonstrate reversible melting behavior above 110°C, behaving as thermoplastics. After melting, they can be consolidated at 200°C, resulting in irreversible curing of the material. They are formed through condensation reactions of organically modified di- and tri-alkoxysilanes.

Conventional melting gels are highly non-polar compounds with mainly alkyl and aromatic substituents at the silicon atoms. While this makes them useful in various applications, increasing the polarity of these materials can significantly broaden their potential. A more polar melting gel could offer functionality as a coating material for more polar surfaces, enhance biocompatibility for medical applications, and modify the electrical conductivity for use in electronic devices or artificial muscles.

Within the PhD thesis new functionalized melting gels will be synthetized and characterized. In a first step we try to incorporate heterocyclic and homocyclic five-membered rings into the siloxane structure. The use of five-membered rings, including those containing nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur atoms, aims to increase the polarity of the material while simultaneously modifying the physical, chemical, and mechanical properties of the resulting polymers.