o-Carborane-Containing Poly(siloxane-arylacetylene)s With Thermal and Thermo-Oxidative Stabilities

A series of poly(siloxane-arylacetylene)s with o-carborane in the backbone (CB-PSOA)s were prepared by the coupling reaction between poly(siloxane-arylacetylene) (PSOA) and decaborane (B₁₀H₁₄) in the presence of CH₃CN. CB-PSOAs were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (Py–GC–MS). The results show that the average amount of carborane units in a CB-PSOA chain could be raised when the molar ratio of B₁₀H₁₄ to PSOA is increased from 0.6 to 2.4. The crosslinking reaction could be carried on at above 140°C for CB-PSOAs. The CB-PSOA thermosets show excellent thermo oxidative stability with over 85% residue yield at 1000°C in air.