Fascinating Silicone™ Chemistry

Silicone chemistry is one of the most versatile chemistries on the planet – full of contrasts, and full of potential.

Did you know ... silicones can adhere or release, insulate or conduct, create foam or destroy it; they can be durable or transient, polar or nonpolar, volatile or nonvolatile! Think you know silicones? Take a closer
look.

Welcome to fascinating silicone chemistry!

Silicone is not a product, but an entire field of chemistry. Here in the Fascinating Silicone Chemistry Corner, you will learn what makes silicones unique and why they are able to deliver so many problem-solving and innovation-enabling benefits.

What is silicone?

Silicone is a generic name for a wide variety of polymeric chains and networks constructed around a backbone of Si-O-Si.

Technically known as “polysiloxanes,” silicones are the “missing link” between organic and inorganic chemistry.

Silicone links organic and inorganic chemistry.

Combining the advantages of glass and plastics, silicones are unique materials unlike anything else in the world.

Like glass (which is silicon-based), silicones are temperature- and moisture-resistant, chemically inert, and dielectric.
Like plastics (which are carbon-based), silicones are strong and able to assume many forms.

Learn how silicones differ from organics (carbon-based materials).

Did you know ... silicones and quartz are both based
on Si-O-Si; but their molecules are as different as
rocks and noodles! Explore silicone's unique
molecular structure.

Expand your understanding

Learn about:
The silicone molecule
Silicone building blocks & nomenclature
Other members of the silicon materials family

Easy reading:
Silicones: Sophisticated Chemical Building Block (PDF size 211 KB)

Technical articles for chemists and engineers:

Silicones in Industrial Applications
Article reprints from the silicone chapter of Inorganic Polymers, published by Nova Sciences.

Scientific overviews by silicone experts from around the globe.

Introduction to silicone chemistry
Uses, benefits, and limitations of silicones in various industrial applications

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Explore your material options

Open the silicone toolbox for more information.
Learn about silicone materials from Dow Corning.

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