Inorganic polymer

Inorganic polymers offer some properties not found in organic materials including low-temperature flexibility, electrical conductivity, and nonflammability.

Traditionally, the area of inorganic polymers focuses on materials in which the backbone is composed exclusively of main-group elements.

The premier materials are polysilanes, which are analogous to polyethylene and related organic polymers.

These include polygermanes, [R2Ge]n, and polystannanes, [R2Sn]n. Heterochain polymers have more than one type of atom in the main chain.

Of great commercial interest are the polysiloxanes, where the main chain features Si and O centers: −Si−O−Si−O−.

Unlike most inorganic polymers, these materials lack substituents on the main chain atoms.

Such materials exhibit high electrical conductivity, a finding that attracted much attention during the era when polyacetylene was discovered.

This type of reaction is illustrated by the stepwise conversion of ammonia borane to discrete rings and oligomers, which upon pyrolysis give boron nitrides.