Solid ceramic SiCO microspheres and porous rigid siloxane microspheres from swellable polysiloxane particles

Solid silicon oxycarbide (SiCO) ceramic microspheres and rigid porous siloxane microspheres were obtained in a two step process. First, polysiloxane microspheres with a large number of Si-OH groups in their bulk and on their surface were synthesized from polyhydromethylsiloxane (PHMS) using a recently developed process. The process included a combination of three reactions of Si-H groups of PHMS occurring in aqueous emulsion and catalyzed by the same Karstedt Pt(0) complex: (i) hydrosilylation of 1,3-divinyltetramethyldisiloxane (DVTMDS), (ii) hydrolysis, (iii) dehydrogenocondensation involving the SiOH groups formed during the hydrolysis. DVTMDS was grafted on PHMS prior to emulsification. Microspheres had a loose structure and were able to absorb a significant amount of organic solvents. In the second step the microspheres were subjected to pyrolysis with heating in the argon atmosphere at following temperatures: 400, 700 and 1000 °C. These heated at 400 °C had micro and mezopores, while those heated at 700 and 1000 °C gave spherical solid SiCO ceramic particles. Polysiloxane microspheres and microspheres obtained by pyrolysis of the former were analyzed by 29Si and 13C MAS NMR, FTIR, SEM, and N2 gas adsorption.