Novel silicone materials with cyclic polymers

Cyclic polymers have been an academic curiosity for decades because of their endless structure that results in unique physical properties compared to the physical properties of linear polymers. The most prominent limitation in the research
on cyclic polymers has been the limited quantity of cyclic polymer that could be prepared. Improvements in synthetic procedures in the recent years have opened up for the possibility of incorporating cyclic polymers into topological materials.1,2

One topological material that can be prepared from cyclic polymers is a system where linear polymers thread the cyclic polymers and a material where the cyclic polymers act as physical crosslinks is obtained. Another topological material is
a network consisting solely of cyclic polymers. In this project we are looking into which factors are important in order to achieve threading of cyclic silicone polymers. By developing a strategy for threading of cyclic silicone polymers a new type
of silicone networks can be unlocked.