Zirconium-modified organosiloxane resin for high-temperature-resistant coatings

Organosiloxane resins typically undergo significant thermal degradation, with notable mass loss between 400 °C and 800 °C, which limits its applications in wider fields. To address this problem, zirconium (Zr) was incorporated into the backbone of organosiloxane resins via the sol-gel process. The mass retention of the Zr-modified organosiloxane resins at 1000 °C increased with Zr content, reaching 95.47 wt% and 97.29 wt% in air and argon, respectively. The accretion of the mass retention can be attributed to the formation of crystalline zirconium oxide (ZrO2) structures within the resin matrix. The Zr-modified organosiloxane resins showed storage stability even after 3 months. Uniform, smooth and discernible defect free coatings with thickness of approximately 1 μm were obtained through spin-coating. Compared with the pure organosiloxane coating, the Zr-modified organosiloxane coating showed better thermal stability without significant cracks after heat treatment in air at 450 °C. The results suggest potential applications of this Zr-modified ploysiloxane in thermal barrier protection technologies.