Photoinitiated Cationic Ring-Opening Polymerization of Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane

Photochemical techniques have recently been revitalized as they can readily be adapted to different polymerization modes to yield a wide range of complex macromolecular structures. However, the implementation of the photoinduced cationic methods in the polymerization of cyclic siloxane monomers has scarcely been investigated. Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) is an important monomer for the synthesis of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and its copolymers. In this study, the cationic ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of D4, initiated by diphenyl iodonium hexafluorophosphate (DPI), has been studied. Both direct and indirect initiating systems acting at broad wavelength using benzophenone and pyrene were investigated. In both systems, photochemically generated protonic acids and silylium cations are responsible for the polymerization. The kinetics of the polymerization are followed by viscosimetry and GPC analyses. The reported approach may overcome the problems associated with conventional methods and therefore represents industrial importance for the fabrication of polysiloxanes.