BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Ceramics have been known for many hundreds of _j L _Q years and have been used as coatings or as fabricated parts and are employed wherever their characteristics such as durability, nonporosity, electrical conductivity or nonconductivity, and heat protection are required. One of the more recent ceramic materials is a silicon-carbon-oxygen

₁₅ system, named as a black glass, which can find use in certain situations where extremely high temperatures are present.

Traditionally, the introduction of carbon in glasses was made by impregnating porous glass with a

20 concentrated solution of an organic compound and subsequently firing in a reducing or neutral atmosphere. The carbon-containing product is generally regarded as a composite containing carbon and silica. Elmer and Meissner (Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 59, 206, 1976) of

25 Corning Glass Works reported that the annealing point of reconstructed 96% silicon dioxide glasses is markedly increased by incorporating carbon in porous glass. Furfuryl alcohol was used as the pyrolyzable organic compound. They attributed the increase of about 100°C in annealing point to ³⁰ the effect of hydroxyl removal from the internal surface of the porous glass by hydroxyl reaction with carbon. The resistivities of samples with less than 2% carbon content approached that of the glass whereas the electrical resistivities of carbon-containing silica with carbon ³⁵ between 4.5-7% are in the range of 1-3 ohm-cm, thus producing electrically conductive glasses. The highest carbon content in the final glasses they could produce is 8.59%.

Smith & Crandall reported in U.S Patent 3,378,431 a method of making carbon-containing glass by hot-pressing to sintering temperature a mixture of colloidal silica and an organic compound known in the trade as "Carbowax" (polyethylene glycol) in an oxygen-free atmosphere. The black glass obtained from the mixture of 33% "Carbowax" and 67% silicon dioxide showed the presence of 1.2% by weight of carbon. A devitrification-resistant bonded mass of vitreous silicon dioxide and carbon physically inseparable and microscopically indistinguishable from silica was obtained. The black glass has a low thermal diffusivity and more resistance to crystallization than pure vitreous silica. Devitrification temperature increased by 150°C to 1250°C as compared with colloidal silica.

Carbon-modified silica glass has been used as a composite matrix by Larsen, Harada and Nakamum (Report No. AF AS-TR-83-4134, December, 1983, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio). In producing fiber-reinforced composites, the processing sequence includes slurry impregnation of silicon carbide fiber in an aqueous slurry of a carbowax (polyethylene glycol) and a silicon-containing compound known in the trade as Cab-0-Sil (a silicon dioxide powder manufactured by Cabot) , layout of prepregged fiber tows, and hot-pressing. The composites thus obtained exhibited high porosity and brittle fracture indicative of low toughness. They concluded that the silicon carbide/black glass fiber composite is a promising material, although the property goals were not achieved. There is suspicion that the silicon carbide fibers may have degraded.

More recently, formation of carbonaceous ceramics has been carried out through the use of the sol-gel process. January discloses in U.S. Patent No. 4,472,510 the use of the sol gel process to form monolithic glasses containing carbon through pyrolysis of the gels of organosilsesquioxanes, metal oxides and metal alkoxides.

onomann in Great Britain Patent 1,359,576 disclosed the formation of silicon and quartz fibers using silsesαuioxanes as precursors. Their gelling process used selected organosilicon compounds for the preparation of the ceramic precursor based on the following reaction:

= Si-OR + H ₂ 0 ~ Si-OH + ROH (1) = Si-OH + HO-SiΞ —_ = Si-0-Sii + H _? Q (2) in which R represents an organic radical such as alkyl groups and aryl groups such as phenyl group.

The uniqueness of the sol-σel process is the ability to obtain homogeneous, purer glassy oroducts by low temperature processes. Also, the use of a liquid sol as the starting materials allows the preparation of intractable monoliths of complicated shapes utilizing a liquid path. The advantages of such a procedure over the powder consolidation techniques, such as sintering and hot isostatic pressing, are their formability of complicated shapes and low temperature operation. However, monolithic black glasses produced via hydrolysis and condensation of organoalkoxysilanes are not practical because of the requirement for very long drying periods and delicate gelling conditions. For example, January prepared a 0.66 cubic centimeter methyltrimethoxysilane gel monolith over a drying period of about three weeks, which, upon pyrolysis, yielded a carbon-containing black glass monolith of density 1.6 grams per milliliter. The very slow drying rate is necessary for reducing cracks during the gelation period. These cracks form as a result of the non-uniform surface tensions created by the evaporation of the split-off water or alcohol molecules in the hydrolysis (1) and condensation ⁽ 2) reactions. In the instant invention, a hydrosilylation reaction was used for the gelation process in place of the hydrolysis-condensation route. The hydrosilylation involves addition of silane (Si-H) to vinyl silane (Si-CH=CH_,) to

form an ethylene linkage as illustrated in the following equation:

= Si-H + CH ₂ = CH-Si =-;= SiCH ₂ CH ₂ Si = (3) The features of the hydrosilylation reaction are such that there is neither a small molecule reaction product nor a weight loss during gelation and that the carbons in the ethylene linkage are bonded to the silicon atoms. This gelation reaction completely eliminates the drying problem inherent in the hydrolysis of organoalkoxysilane process. We also unexpectedly found that cyclosiloxane gels cross- linked by hydrosilylation reaction produced upon pyrolysis to high temperature in a non-oxidizing atmosphere high carbon content, high yield and high density black glasses.

Monomann in Great Britain Patent 1,359,576 disclosed the use of a phenyl group rather than a methyl group as R in order to increase the carbon content of their products. By choosing phenyl group as R, the carbon weight percent can be increased to as high as ca. 30%. However, we have shown in our simulation experiments that the carbon present started to oxidize at 550°C in flowing air and was completely removed before 1000°C. Therefore, the carbon derived from pyrolysis of the phenyl group is free carbon susceptible to oxidation while our invention produces carbon contents with the carbon bonded to silicon rather than existing as free carbon, resulting in a carbon-containing material that is oxidation resistant up to about 1400°C.

Okamura et al. reported in U.S. 4,618,591 a method of making silicon carbide-carbon composite molded product by using polycarbosilane as the precursor for a matrix material. The polycarbosilane on pyrolysis forms microcrystalline silicon carbide with inclusion of low oxygen percentage, as indicated by their X-ray diffraction patterns. In contradistinction to this work, this invention produces materials that have different composition ranges

and that are overwhelmingly amorphous with a few small diffraction peaks different from silicon carbide.

N. Farada and M. Tanaka in U.S. Patent 3,957,717 described and claimed an organopolysiloxane gel prepared from cyclosiloxanes and H. La oreaux in U.S. Patents Nos. 3,197,432 and 3,197,433 claimed the product gel from reacting cyclosiloxanes containing hydrogens and vinyl groups. The basic idea of reacting silyl hydrogen groups with silyl vinyl groups is found in U.S. Patents Nos. 3,439,014 and 3,271,362.

The stability of a soluble polymer was studied by thermogravimetric analysis by A. Zhdanov et al. and reported in the Russian Journal Vysokomolekulyarnye Soedineniva, Series A, 16 (10), 2345-50 (1974). They precipitated the highly branched, soluble polymer from the reaction mixture as powders by adding alcohols into the reaction vessel before the gel point. Their polymer was different from a network gel produced from a sol-gel process in that it contained a large amount of unreacted Si-H and Si-CH=CH ₂ groups and was readily soluble in aromatic solvents. Also, the polymer powder did not melt when heated up to 500°C. They heated the soluble polymers at 10°C per minute up to a maximum of 780°C in both Argon and air and reported the thermogravimetric results as to weight loss at various stages of heating and as to the total weight loss involved. No weight change was observed beyond 780°C when heated in Argon at a rate of 10°C/min. with a final yield of 87%. The Russians did not characterize the resultant product of this analysis and appeared to have no interest in this product.

In contradistinction to this prior work, this invention is concerned with the product of pyrolysis of the gel polymers formed from cyclosiloxanes as well as with the process to produce such a product. The product of our invention is a hard, glassy material which we call a black

glass having carbon directly bonded to silicon and which is very useful when cast as a monolith, or one piece object.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a composition of matter in which greater amounts of carbon are incorporated by bonding to silicon than were possible utilizing prior art. More specifically, the invention is concerned with a carbon- containing black glass composition of matter in which about 10% to about 40% carbon is incorporated by weight to produce an oxidatively stable and high melting substance.

As was hereinbefore discussed, there is a need for a thermally stable, oxidative-resistant, and devitrification-resistant black glass. Such a material would find high temperature use and would be economically attractive when prepared by the present method in which a polymer would be formed at a low temperature followed by pyrolysis at temperatures in the range of about 700°C to about 1400°C. Our invention has the advantage of producing a silica-modified glass having a higher melting point than cristobalite and having greater resistance to devitrification than pure vitreous silica and previously known carbon-containing glasses. Our invention also yields a carbon-containing glass having higher thermal stability in air than known nonoxide ceramics containing carbon. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an amorphous carbon-containing silica-based ceramic with a high melting point that is resistant to oxidation and crystallization.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a process whereby any moldable shape can be obtained in the form of a black glass monolith.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a process in which a filled black glass monolith can be produced.

In one aspect, an embodiment of this invention resides in a carbon-containing black glass ceramic composition of matter having the empirical formula SiC 0 wherein x ranges from about 0.5 to about 2.0, and y ranges from about 0.5 to about 3.0.

Another aspect of this invention is found in a process to produce a black glass comprising making a polymer by reacting, in the presence of a catalytic effective amount of a hydrosilylation catalyst, (a) a cyclosiloxane monomer of formula

where n is an integer from 3 to about 20, R is hydrogen, and R' is an alkene of from 2 to about 20 carbon atoms in which one vinyl carbon is directly bonded to silicon or (b) reacting of two or more different cyclosiloxane monomers of the formula and the n integer range where for at least one monomer R is hydrogen and R' is an alkyl group having from 1 to about 20 carbon atoms, and for the other monomers R is an alkene of from 2 to about 20 carbon atoms in which one vinyl carbon is directly bonded to silicon and R' is an alkyl group of from 1 to about 20 carbon atoms, heating the resulting polymer in a non-oxidizing atmosphere to a temperature in the range of from about 800°C to about 1400 C to produce a black glass.

Other objects and embodiments will be found in the following further detailed description of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As hereinbefore set forth, the present invention is concerned with carbon-containing black glass compositions of matter having varying percents by weight of carbon, with high melting points, resistant to devitrification, and possessing oxidative stability.

A carbon-containing black glass composition of matter may be prepared by any method known in the art. Examples of this art would be the physical blending and sintering of mixtures of silica and pyrolyzable organic compounds or the sol-gel process. The sol-gel process is very attractive due to the homogeneity of the sol produced, the ease of forming a gel from the sol, and the fact that such a process can be carried out at low temperatures, thereby reducing production costs. As described in the background of the invention, other workers have been able to prepare a polymer from cyclosiloxanes, and, in some cases, form this polymer into a monolith, but no prior work has shown the manufacture of a black glass monolith, either filled or unfilled, utilizing the cyclosiloxane polymer method. Our invention, therefore, comprises the pyrolysis in an inert atmosphere of a polymer made from cyclosiloxanes to temperatures of about 1400°C to produce a hard, glassy material which we call a black glass. The shape of this black glass derives directly from the shape of the precursor polymer with the strength dependent on whether the monomer is filled with a powder, whisker, or fiber prior to polymerization. A monolithic shape can be produced utilizing a molding or an extrusion step prior to or concomitant with a final polymerization. After the polymer is shaped, the polymer is pyrolyzed up to about 1400°C to form a black glass with retention of the basic starting

shape, but with decreased dimensions due to thermal shrinkage.

The polymer precursor of the present invention is prepared in one instance at reaction conditions by subjecting a cyclosiloxane mixture containing cyclosiloxanes of from 3 to about 20 silicon atoms to heating to a temperature in the range of from about 10°C to about 300°C in the presence of a platinum hydrosilylation catalyst present at 1-200 ppm for a time in the range of from about 1 minute to about 600 minutes. The polymer is then placed in nitrogen and pyrolyzed at a temperature in the range from about 800°C to about 1400°C for a time in the range of from about 1 hour to about 300 hours to produce the black glass. The polymer formation step from the monomer takes advantage of the fact that a silicon-hydride will react with a silicon-vinyl group to form a silicon-carbon-carbon-silicon bonded chain, thereby forming a network polymer. For this reason, each monomer cyclosiloxane must contain either a silicon-hydride bond or a silicon-vinyl bond. For purposes of this application and the appended claims a silicon- hydride bond refers to the presence of a silicon atom bonded directly to a hydrogen atom and a silicon-vinyl bond refers to the presence of a silicon atom bonded directly to a carbon atom, called an alkene carbon, that is doubly bonded to another carbon atom in an alkene moiety. Conversion of the gel polymer to black glass takes place between 430°C and 950°C. Three major pyrolysis steps were identified by thermogravimetric analysis at 430-700 C, 680-800°C and 780-950°C. The yield of the gel-glass conversion is 83%; the third pyrolysis mechanism occurring between 785°C and 950°C contributed the final 2.5% weight loss to the final product. Thus, the pyrolysis chemistry of the gel polymer in this invention is distinctly different from that reported by A. Zhdanov et al. in that their

soluble polymer did not have any reaction above 780 C in a fast heating of 600°C per hour. As discussed hereinbefore, this soluble cyclosiloxane precursor is also chemicallv different from a gel polymer. The gel polymers in this invention cannot be dissolved in solvents such as toluene.

The invention can be practiced bv utilizinq a polymer precursor cyclosiloxane wherein both the requisite silicon-hydride bond and the silicon-vinyl bond are present in one molecule. For example, 1,3,5,7-tetravinyl-, 1,3,5,7- tetrahydrocyclotetrasiloxane would operate within the scope of this invention since this molecule has the basic requirement of a silicon-hydride bond and a silicon-vinyl bond and would polymerize to give a black glass polymer precursor of use in this invention.

One of the most useful methods utilized in the process of this invention is to fabricate the polymer precursor into a monolith using procedures like tape casting, injection molding, reaction injection molding, and compression molding. For instance, the polymer forming cyclosiloxane mixture may be introduced into a mold and then heated to form the polymer monolith black glass precursor or extruded through a heated die to form a precursor polvmer monolith. The monolith would then be pyrolyzed up to about 1400°C to form the black glass monolith.

Also considered as within the scope of this invention is impregnating the black glass product of this invention with cyclosiloxane monomer reaction mixture, the best results coming from pressure or vacuum impregnation with subsequent pyrolysis to afford a black glass product with less cracks and voids and with greater density. Impregnation can be repeated to further increase the density of the black glass product of this invention.

While the reaction works best if platinum is the hydrosilylation catalyst, other catalysts such as cobalt and manganese carbonyl will perform adequately. The catalyst can be dispersed as a solid or can be used as a solution when added to the cyclosiloxane monomer.

Cyclosiloxanes are the preferred silicon containing compounds for effecting the gel monoliths. Examples of cyclosiloxanes include, but are not limited to, 1,3,5,7-tetramethyltetrahydrocyclotetrasiloxane, 1,3,5,7-tetravinyltetrahydrocyclotetrasiloxane, 1,3,5,7-tetravinyltetraethylcyclotetrasiloxane, 1,3,5,7-tetravinyltetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane, 1,3,5-trimethyltrivinylcyclotrisiloxane, 1,3,5-trivinyltrihydrocyclotrisiloxane, 1,3,5-trimethyltrihydrocyclotrisiloxane, 1,3,5,7,9-pentavinylpentahydrocyclopentasiloxane, 1,3,5,7, -pentavinylpentamethylcyclopentasiloxane, 1,1,3,3,5,5,7,7-octavinylcyclotetrasiloxane, 1,1,3,3,5,5,7,7-octahydrocyclotetrasiloxane, 1,3,5,7,9,11-hexavinylhexamethylcyclohexasiloxane, 1,3,5,7,9,11-hexamethylhexahydrocyclohexasiloxane, 1,3,5,7,9,11,13,15,17,19- decavinyldecahydrocyclodecasiloxane,

1,3,5,7,9,11,13,15,17,19,21,23,25,27,29-pentadecavinyl- pentadecahydrocyclopentadecasiloxane, 1,3,5,7-tetrapropenyltetrahydrocyclotetrasiloxane, 1,3,5.,7-tetrapentenyltetrapentylcyclotetrasiloxane and 1,3,5,7,9-pentadecenylpentapropylcyclopentasiloxane.

The onomeric mixture can include a filler such as cubic or hexagonal silicon carbide, silicon nitride, silica, alumina, hafnia, titania, and zirconia to strengthen the resulting monolith. Such a filler in the form of a powder, whisker, or fiber can be mixed into the monomer using conventional means. The filled product produced by the

process of this invention shows not only increased strength but also exhibits controlled shrinkage upon the pyrolysis step. Pyrolysis of the precursor polymers changes these polymers into very hard ceramic bodies that can find application in high temperature, oxidation-resistant, high strength composite matrices and castable ceramics.

It has been discovered that application of pressure to the monomer mixture during the polymer forming operation will prevent nucleate bubbling of the reactants and decrease reaction time in that higher temperatures can be employed. Bubbling is to be avoided since it causes voids and cracks to form in the incipient polymer and thereby weakening the finished product. In the reaction of this invention bubbling occurs whenever the filler content of the monomer mixture is in excess of about 20% by weight.

Therefore, it is preferred to perform the polymerization of this invention under a pressure in the range of from 14 psi to about 30,000 psi so as to produce crack-free nearly voidless polymers. The application of increased pressure will also hasten the reaction time for unfilled polymer formation. For the purposes of this application and appended claims, the term "crack-free" will be read to mean free of visible cracks.

Rarada and Tanaka have shown in their control experiment that the cured product obtained from a mixture of 175 parts of cyclotetrasiloxanes and 200 parts of quartz flour was found to have cracks and to be unusable. In their invention, 100 parts of an organopolysiloxane composed of the triorganosiloxy and silicon dioxide groups was added to the cyclotetrasiloxanes sol, resulting in a cured product free from crack defects. Their monomer composition thus prepared is curable at a temperature in the range from room temperature to 100°C. Our invention of high pressure polymerization of cyclosiloxanes by hydrosilylation reaction

not only can produce cured thick-walled products without cracking and gas pockets, but also allows the use of polymerization temperatures higher than 100°C and higher platinum concentration, thus shortening the reaction time for polymerization.

The black glass composition of matter has an empirical formula SiCx0y wherein x ranges from about 0.5 to about 2.0, and y ranges from about 0.5 to about 3.0, whereby the carbon content ranges from about 10% to about 40%. No other method known in the art can achieve such a high carbon content black glass wherein the carbon is resistant to oxidation at high temperatures.

As discussed hereinbefore, January and Monomann were able to produce high carbon black glasses from precursors different from this invention but their glass contained low densities around 1.6 and the carbon was easily oxidized at low temperature. Using the process of our invention, the carbon contained in the black glass is resistant to oxidation and our densities are about 2.1 grams per milliliter. In addition, the prior work utilizing silicon hydrolysis had extremely slow fabrication times for monoliths on the order of weeks, whereas our invention can form the polymer monoliths in the order of minutes with higher yield than those made from hydrolysis reactions of silicon. Our monoliths can be formed into larger shapes than the hydrolysis black glasses.

Our invention can be used to manufacture non- porous as well as porous black glass. For most purposes it is preferred to use neat cyclosiloxanes to form non-porous black glass, but porous black glass can be formed if so desired by starting with solvent based cyclosiloxane monomers. This invention provides crack-free polymers when run in the presence of pressure while the same reaction

mixture when run at atmospheric mixture provides a polymer containing cracks.

The following examples are given for purposes of illustration. However, it is to be understood that these examples are only illustrative in nature and that this invention is not necessarily limited thereto.

EXAMPLE I

Ten milliliters of tetravinyltetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane was mixed with 7.2 milliliters of a mixture of cyclosiloxanes containing from 3 to about 6 silicon atoms and called methylhydrocyclosiloxane and 0.05 milliliters of platinum- divinyltetramethyldisiloxane complex containing 3% platinum in xylene was added to the above mixture. After heating to about 60°C for one hour a toluene insoluble gel polymer was formed. The resultant polymer was then pyrolyzed in nitrogen at a heating rate of 200°C per hour to about 1200°C resulting in formation of a carbon containing black glass.

The weight loss was about 17% for the overall process and the skeleton density for the ground black glass powder was about 2.10 grams per milliliter. The carbon-containing black glass lost less than 0.6% by weight when heated in flowing air to about 1150°C at a heating rate of 10°C per minute in a thermogravimetric analysis. X-ray analysis of this black glass indicates that this material is largely amorphous and that the sample had a few small diffraction peaks, which was different from crystalline silicon carbide. Elemental composition gave the formula

^SiC 1.37°1.03

for the black glass and the black glass contained <0.1 weight % hydrogen and <0.3 weight % nitrogen.

EXAMPLES II - VI T

These examples were all performed as described in Example I with the exception that different volume amounts of tetravinyltetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane (T) and methylhydrocyclosiloxane (M) were utilized to make the black glass. The results of these experiments are presented in Table 1 below where T/M is a volume ratio. The data shows that the silicon bonded carbon content can be varied and this variation is controllable within + 1%.

Thermogravimetric analysis in flowing air showed that powder samples from Examples II-VTII had less than 0.5% weiσht loss when heated to 1150°C.

TABLE 1 Composition Tables

Pyrolysis Carbon wt. % Empirical

Example T/M Yield in black glass Formulae

II 8/2 67% 29.8% SiC. 45°0, 89

III 7/3 79% 28.0% ^SiC 1.51°l, 17

IV 6/4 82% 27.2% ^SiC 1.36°0.98

V 5/5 83% 24.6% ^SiC 1.30°0.95

VI 4/6 84% 24.1% SiC, .23°1. 16

VII 3/7 77% 21.7% ^SiC 1.08°1.17

VIII 2/8 57% 19.4% ^SiC 1.01°1.39

EXAMPLE IX

The pyrolysis mechanism was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) . 29.93 mg of the gel polymer obtained from Example I was heated under flowing nitrogen at a heating rate of 10°C per minute to 1100°C. The total weight loss was 17%. Results for the controlled pyrolysis are summarized in Table II below.

Table TI

TGA Results for Pyrolvsis of Polvmer <~el

Temperature Range

80°C 430°C 430°C 605°C 605°C 690°C 690°C 745°C 745°C 785°C 785°C 950°C

Total 16.8%

The ceramic conversion occurred in the 430°^-°50 ^o C temperature range. The derivatives of the TGA curve indicated three major pyrolysis mechanisms at 430-700°C, 650-800°C and 780-900°C. The third pyrolysis step accounted for ca. 15% of the total weight loss.

EXAMPLE X

10 ml of phenyltriethoxysilane was mixed with 10 ml of tetraethoxysilane in a beaker, 7.8 ml of 1.0 M acetic acid was added, and the solution was adjusted to about pH 1 by adding several drops of concentrated hydrochloric acid. The gel produced by this method was pvrolvzed in nitrogen to 1200°C at a heating rate of 200°C per hour to give 66.1* of a foam material with a 22.6% carbon content by weight. Thermogravimetric analysis of the black glass foam was performed in flowing air at a heating rate of 20°C per minute to 1150°C and showed a loss in weight of 20.39% which began at around 550°C. The color of the sample turned white, indicating that the residue is silica and the carbon is not oxidation resistant as would be expected if the

carbon was bound to the silicon structure rather than being present as a mixture of graphite in silica.

A second example using 20 ml of phenyl triethoxysilane was reacted with 4 ml of tetraethoxysilane as in the first example reported above to give a 66% yield of a porous product containing 35.0% carbon by weight. Thermogravimetric analysis of this product showed a weight loss of 34.05%, again demonstrating that the carbon present is not resistant to oxidation at high temperatures as is the carbon present in the black glass made in Examples I-VIII.

EXAMPLE XI

A sol mixture was prepared as described in Example I and silicon carbide whiskers (Tateho) were suspended in said mixture by ultrasonic agitation for from 15 to about 30 seconds resulting in a stable suspension of the whiskers. Polymerization of the suspension occurred after 120 minutes heating at 50°C affording a rigid 3.5 centimeter diameter composite cylinder with about 13% by weight whisker content. Pyrolysis of this cylinder at 200°C per hour up to a temperature of about 1200°C gave a cylinder whose diameter had contracted by about 20%.

EXAMPLE XII

In like manner as described in Example I, a mixture was prepared and then polymerized at about 9 °C in about 10-15 minutes under a pressure of 70 psi. Gelation took about 90 minutes if the temperature is lowered to 55 c and the pressure is atmospheric. An increase in pressure then allows higher temperature polymerization and affords much shorter polymerization times, under atmospheric pressure, the sol liquid with 90 ppm Pt started to foam when

gelation temperature was over 65°C.

EXAMPLE XIII

A mixture was prepared in like manner as described in Example I and 50 weight percent of silicon carbide powder was added to said mixture. Polymerization occurred at 85°C and 70 psi in 15 minutes without bubble formation. In atmospheric pressure operation it is not possible to obtain bubble-free samples for filler loadings exceeding about 20% by weight filler since the filler acts to produce nucleate bubbling as the temperature is raised.

EXAMPLE XIV

For purposes of this example and for use in the following Examples XV and XX, a standard mixture of cyclosiloxane monomers was prepared from T, tetravinyltetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane, and M, a commercial mixture of methylhydrocyclosiloxanes when the silicon atoms number from 4-6, in the ratio of 5.7 T to 4.3 M in the presence of 90 ppm platinum.

In this example 4 milliliters of the standard mixture was placed in a polypropylene tube and heated at 55°C in an oven for 90 minutes to form a polymer which was subsequently hardened at 80°C for 30 minutes. The polymer exhibited a smooth surface and no cracks after removal from the polypropylene tube. Pyrolysis of this polymer in nitrogen to 1200°C at the rate of 200°C per minute afforded a black glass with a bulk density of 2.05 g/ml exhibiting a diameter shrinkage of about 21% and a reduction in volume to about 49% of initial volume.

EX VPT.E XV

Twelve milliliters of the mixture of Example YTV was mixed with 3 grams of alpha silicon carbide powder with ultrasonic agitation and heated to 40°C for 15 minutes. The resultant mixture was poured into an 11mm x 11mm x 55mm

10 copper case and placed in a pressure vessel under 90 psig. The pressurized container was placed in a 60°C water bath for 60 minutes to polymerize the monomers. The polymer was heated in a 90°C oven for one hour, and then taken out of the copper case. The filled polvmer had dimensions of 1.44

• _j c cm x 1.44 cm x 4.60 cm and exhibited a smooth surface and no cracks. Pyrolysis under nitrogen at 200°C per hour up to 1200°C produced a 1.14 cm x 1.14 cm x 3.60 cm black glass object with uniform shrinkage, as to height and width, of 19.0% and a final volume of 52.9% o the initial volume.

₂₀ The black glass was then impregnated under vacuum with the starting mixture, polymerized at 55°C for 8P minutes, cured at 90°C for 60 minutes, and pyrolvzed to 1200°C as before. The pyrolyzed black glass exhibited no change in dimensions and weighed 10.28 grams with a density

25 of 2.3 g/ml. The silicon carbide was present in the black glass at 23% by weight.

EXAMPLE XVI

30 A comparison experiment was run as described in

Example XIV but without a pressurized vessel. The resultant polymer exhibited gas pockets and cracks after curing at 55°C for 90 minutes. A similar non-pressurized sample was cured at 35°C for 16 hours and exhibited cracks and gas

³⁵ pockets. When a similar mixture was cured at 22°C for 48 hours, the polymer did not exhibit cracks and gas pockets but sedimentation of the alpha silicon carbide powder occurred and resulted in a clearly defined boundary laver in

the polymer.

EXAMPLE XVII

Eleven grams of a starting mixture as described in Example XXV was mixed with 7 grams of alpha silicon carbide powder (39.3% by weight) by ultrasonic dispersion, placed in a cylindrical aluminum case with an interior diameter of 18 mm and a height of 74 mm, pressurized to 110 psig, immersed in an 85°C water bath for 15 minutes, heated in a 100°C oven for one hour, and the filled polymer was then removed from the case and exhibited a smooth surface having no cracks with a diameter of 18 mm and height of 48 mm. Upon pyrolysis to 1200°C at 200°C per hour under nitrogen, the filled black glass exhibited a 15 mm diameter with a height of 41 mm, a weight of 16.34 grams, a density of 2.2 g/ml, and contained 43% by weight of silicon carbide powder.

EXAMPLE XVIII

In like manner as in Example XVII, a 61% alpha silicon carbide filled monomer mixture was prepared from 16 grams of alpha silicon carbide powder and 10 ml of monomer mixture. This mixture was heated at 40°C for 20 minutes, the slurry was then poured into an 11 mm interior diameter polypropylene tube, the tube was pressurized to 110 psig and heated for 8 minutes at 80°C and aged at 85°C for 30 minutes, and the polymer was removed and exhibited a smooth surface and no cracks. Pyrolysis to 1200°C under nitrogen at 200°C per hour gave a filled black glass with a diameter of 8.7 mm and a height of 45.7 mm, a weight of 6 grams, a density of 2.23 g/ml, and contained 66% by weight of silicon carbide.

EXAMPLE XIX

In like manner as in Example XVIII, 14.5 ml of monomer mixture was combined with 5.5 grams of silicon carbide whiskers and the whiskers were dispersed ultrasonically. The slurry was then poured into a 5« mm x

10 18 mm x 12 mm rectangular aluminum mold and polymerized at 50°C for 3 hours when the polymer was separated from the mold and exhibited cracks and gas pockets. Pyrolysis was performed at 200°C per hour under nitrogen to 1200°C resulting in a black glass with a 17.8 gm (86.6% vield) 5 having dimensions of 50 mm x 15 mm x 11 ram and a final volume of 67% of the initial volume. The density was 7.16 g/ml and 32% by weight of the filled black glass was silicon carbide whisker.

20 EXAMPLE XX

As described in Example XIX, the standard monomer mixture was heated at 40°C for 30 minutes and then 10 milliliters was mixed with 2.99 grams of silicon carbide whiskers. This mixture was divided into two parts. One

^* _? ^ part was polymerized at 55 C at atmospheric pressure for 90 minutes and produced a polymer exhibiting gas pockets and surface cracks. The second part was polymerized under 70 psig at 85°C for 15 minutes giving a polymer exhibiting a _3Q smooth surface and no cracks. This experiment shows the importance of pressure in shortening the reaction time and in producing a crack-free product.

35

EXAMPLE XXI

A sol solution, prepared as described in Example II was mixed with silicon carbide fibers (Nicalon - manufactured by Nippon) in a 1.9 millimeter glass vial. The mixture was polymerized at 52°C for about two hours resulting in a crack-free fiber-reinforced polymer monolith. Controlled pyrolysis, wherein the temperature was raised 200°C per hour until a final temperature of 1200°C was reached, resulted in the formation of a black glass monolith with the same diameter as the pre-fired polymer monolith, a result that was not shown by the unreinforced polymer o Example II. The black glass fiber-reinforced monolith had a density of 1.0 grams per milliliter and contained about 9.7% by weight silicon carbide fiber. The black glass monolith was impregnated, under vacuum, with monomer mixture and pyrolyzed in nitrogen to 1200°C at 200°C per hour to give a monolith with a density of 1.4 grams per milliliter. A second impregnation with monomer mixture followed by further pyrolysis gave a black glass monolith with a density of 1.6 grams per milliliter.