Silicones or siloxanes - Structure and properties

Silicones or polysiloxanes are original polymers distinguished from the elastomers and plastics generally used by their organometallic structure. This structure combines a macromolecular chain made up of a backbone of silicon-oxygen units and organic side groups.

In this first dossier, only their general structure and properties will be discussed, in particular those of elastomers and fluorosilicones. On the other hand, the application part is detailed in the following dossier [N 2 882] .

Important: additional information can be found in another issue of Techniques de l'Ingénieur. Readers are encouraged to refer to the following reference: [A 3 475] .