The Art of Silicones: Bringing Siloxane Chemistry to the Undergraduate Curriculum

Abstract

Siloxane polymers and silicone materials are major components in most people’s daily lives and are important in a wide variety of applications. However, despite their undeniable importance, they are often overlooked in the traditional undergraduate education, as they do not fall neatly into the traditional categories of organic or inorganic chemistry. Even in advanced polymer courses, they are often overlooked despite their value in describing many important polymer concepts. Herein we present three simple experiments to introduce siloxane polymers to the undergraduate education aimed at first-year, upper-level, and non-science-major students. This is prefaced with a brief overview of the history and chemistry of siloxanes and their value as teaching tools in the laboratory and classroom settings.

Revamping a Classic Analytical Chemistry Laboratory Experiment to Improve Student Understanding of Chemical Analysis, Method Development, Validation, and Statistics

“…degree in chemistry. 13 The topic of polymer chemistry is broad and related to many traditional subchemistry branches, such as the structure−property relationship in general chemistry, 14 polycondensation, ring-opening and radical chain polymerization in organic chemistry, 15 siloxane polymers in inorganic chemistry, 16 and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic analysis of polymer samples in analytical chemistry. 17 Though the synthesis of polymers and their property characterization are covered to some extent in the undergraduate chemistry curricula, intrinsically conducting polymers (ICPs), which constitute a unique class of polymers that has now seen their applications extend into electronic, optical, and magnetic fields, have received relatively little attention.…”

Design of a Guided Inquiry Classroom Activity to Investigate Effects of Chemistry on Physical Properties of Elastomers

“…The barrier to entry to studying polymer chemistry has been lowered for young students by utilizing a childhood toy, elastomer bouncy balls . This platform has previously been used to study the dynamics of bouncing. , Additional experiments have used rubber bouncy balls to probe the effect of temperature on elasticity and bounce height. ,, Others have used silicones in classrooms to study paint wettability in art, and to develop ink stamps . The protocol by Mengelt describes the process of fabricating silicone balls using ping-pong ball molds.…”

Cyclic siloxanes conjugated with fluorescent aromatic compounds as fluoride sensors

“…[3][4][5] Flexible siloxane polymers or silicones have been extensively used due to its high thermal stability, chemical resistance, low tension, smooth texture, and non-toxicity and biocompatibility of compounds depending on functionalization. [6][7][8][9] Siloxanes have two general forms: cyclic and linear. 10 For cyclic siloxanes, silicon and oxygen atoms bond and connect at each end to form a ring structure.…”