Synergistically catalyzing ceramization of silicone rubber by boron oxide and platinum-nitrogen system

In this work, a novel ceramifiable silicone rubber (CSR) with high ceramization efficiency was prepared by introducing boron oxide (BO), platinum catalyst (Pt) and nitrogenous silanes (NS) into SR. The effect of BO and Pt-NS on the thermal degradation behavior of CSR and the structure of the obtained ceramic was investigated. The mechanism of ceramization was also intensively discussed. It was found that CSR transformed into a rigid ceramic with a flexural strength of 6.0 MPa after treating at 1000 °C. During the ceramization, the SR matrix was converted to SiOC-like ceramic under the catalysis of Pt-NS. Meanwhile, BO transformed from [BO 3 ] to [BO 4 ] above 400 °C, which had a similar structure to SiO 2 and SiOC ceramic, and strengthened the ceramic by forming Si-O-B structure. Furthermore, crystallization of the ceramic was observed and the crystallinity increased with increasing temperature. This work provides new insights for the preparation of high-performance CSR.