PREPARATION AND PROPERTIES OF SILICON-CONTAINING HYBRID GELS FROM VINYLTRIMETHOXYSILANE

Controlled hydrolysis of vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTM) gave homogeneous gels containing only siloxane bonds which were formed as thin films of low toughness. More flexible or transparent hard gels were prepared by radical polymerization of VTM followed by hydrolytic polycondensation of polyvinyltrimethoxysilane (PVTM) with a low degree of polymerization (n = 12). These gels contained both siloxane and carbon-carbon bonds. The properties of gels are related to the degree of condensation of the siloxane network and the presence of carbon-carbon bonds.