PDMS Bench Scale Reactor

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is silicon-based polymer with diverse industrial and commercial applications. The reaction starts with a cyclic siloxane and a short-chain PDMS endblocking component. In the presence of heat and a catalyst the cyclic and short-chain PDMS molecules are cleaved and reform into long-chain polymers of predictable length. This equilibrium reaction is mildly endothermic, and none of the reactants or by-products are health or environmental hazards.

In this experiment, a 500 ml reaction flask is used to study the PDMS polymerization kinetics. This equipment is also used for bench-scale testing and scale-up before operating our 30-gallon PDMS reaction system.