Inorganic High Polymers

Abstract

Inorganic polymers embrace a very large number of elements and compounds that are constructed of units bonded together in some type of repetitive fashion with the requirement that the element carbon be excluded from the backbone of these repeating units. Some of the most common examples are the metals, as well as naturally occurring silicate minerals and silica. This article covers linear, mainly covalent macromolecules where the skeletal repeat unit is composed of primarily noncarbon elements. Inorganic polymer development has not kept pace with organic polymer development. However, preparation of inorganic polymers produce materials whose special properties are unlikely to be obtained from carbon‐based polymers. Polyphosphazenes and polysilanes have been studied extensively and are discussed here. Discussions of polyalkyl/aryloxothiazenes, polygermanes, and polystannes are included. Some applications include in the following fields: biomedical, optical materials, elastomers, flame retardants, photoinitiation, and light emitting materials.