Facile construction of luminescent silicone elastomers from the compatibilization of porphyrins via the Piers-Rubinsztajn reaction

In this work, in order to improve the low solubility and expand the applications of porphyrins in polysiloxanes, a series of designed siloxane-modified porphyrin derivatives was fabricated based on the Piers-Rubinsztajn reaction. The solubility of the porphyrin derivatives in polysiloxanes could be controlled by adjusting the siloxane chain length. Furthermore, the silicone-modified porphyrin derivatives were doped into a silicone elastomer prepolymer to obtain luminescent elastomers, which also showed good transparency and interfacial stability. In addition, the thermal stability and mechanical properties were well preserved compared with the original elastomer. Finally, based on the above-mentioned properties, an organosilicon elastomer doped with porphyrin showed good processability and plasticity, and could be fabricated into various complex three-dimensional models.