Recyclable Silicone Elastomers from Non-Carbon Heteroatomic Polymer Backbones

Recyclable Silicone Elastomers from Non-Carbon Heteroatomic Polymer Backbones | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Recyclable Silicone Elastomers from Non-Carbon Heteroatomic Polymer Backbones Huaping Xu, Yuanbo Zhang, Feiyang Li, Jia Tian, Shenghan Zhang, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7905289/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Silicone materials are indispensable across industrial and consumer domains, yet their robust Si–O–Si backbones resist depolymerization and typically require chemical crosslinking to attain elastomeric properties. Here we report a modular synthesis to access non-carbon heteroatomic backbone polymers (PTeSiO) featuring periodic Si–O–Te–O linkages. This copolymerization merges Si–O and Te–O as building blocks, enabling a one-pot, room-temperature aqueous route to high-molecular-weight, transparent elastomers with precise control over backbone composition and side-chain architecture. Main-chain engineering via redox-labile Te–O motifs enables chemoselective backbone scission under mild reductive conditions, affording on-demand polymerization–depolymerization cycles with efficient monomer recovery. The semi-flexible backbones and strong chain entanglement impart elasticity, thermoplastic processability, and side-chain-dependent mechanical performance. This work establishes a modular and general chemical strategy for creating non-carbon heteroatomic backbones as a design principle for sustainable and recyclable silicone materials. Physical sciences/Chemistry/Polymer chemistry Physical sciences/Chemistry/Materials chemistry Non-carbon backbone polymers Polysiloxanes Polytelluoxanes Recyclable polymers Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files ExtendedData.docx Extended Data Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7905289","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":532794627,"identity":"65d41ee7-b672-47f8-b2e9-19388925655a","order_by":0,"name":"Huaping Xu","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7530-7264","institution":"Tsinghua University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Huaping","middleName":"","lastName":"Xu","suffix":""},{"id":532794628,"identity":"77b06d3c-a492-4d11-9bdd-88b3819d4469","order_by":1,"name":"Yuanbo Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tsinghua University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yuanbo","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":532794629,"identity":"fb0fecaf-d3e5-4dbf-9dd0-acd3a3c49b28","order_by":2,"name":"Feiyang Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tsinghua University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Feiyang","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":532794630,"identity":"7e617f2c-6bed-4fc5-9fa3-163c785536d8","order_by":3,"name":"Jia Tian","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Beijing University of Chemical Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jia","middleName":"","lastName":"Tian","suffix":""},{"id":532794631,"identity":"8fe54c35-fcfd-48c5-b50c-d0efa92e2b68","order_by":4,"name":"Shenghan Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tsinghua University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shenghan","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":532794632,"identity":"d913f776-aae2-494e-88a1-6667d86ce1c8","order_by":5,"name":"Muqing Cao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tsinghua University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Muqing","middleName":"","lastName":"Cao","suffix":""},{"id":532794633,"identity":"8dbcfcc3-4a1e-4bc5-bad9-862d483adb86","order_by":6,"name":"Ruihao Zhou","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2505-2666","institution":"Tsinghua University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ruihao","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhou","suffix":""},{"id":532794634,"identity":"47d03295-860d-4402-b797-5b9de785d5a1","order_by":7,"name":"Lu Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"SINOPEC (Beijing) Research Institute of Chemical Industry Co., Ltd","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lu","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":532794635,"identity":"70098d69-1b6a-4299-9fbe-23413149035b","order_by":8,"name":"Pengfei Cao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Beijing University of Chemical Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Pengfei","middleName":"","lastName":"Cao","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-10-20 11:41:44","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7905289/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7905289/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":95657248,"identity":"7c16d696-3b23-4929-80ec-58dac9ea6508","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-11 16:20:22","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1275988,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ManuscriptFile.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7905289/v1_covered_5b880f6b-bca0-4658-a3ad-e4392fb18069.pdf"},{"id":95606538,"identity":"0c045fba-1dd1-41c7-aabe-96818dbcbec0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-11 07:18:18","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":16470650,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Extended Data","description":"","filename":"ExtendedData.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7905289/v1/725cccd714e5a68cb9c9e9ba.docx"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Recyclable Silicone Elastomers from Non-Carbon Heteroatomic Polymer Backbones","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Non-carbon backbone polymers, Polysiloxanes, Polytelluoxanes, Recyclable polymers","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7905289/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7905289/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSilicone materials are indispensable across industrial and consumer domains, yet their robust Si\u0026ndash;O\u0026ndash;Si backbones resist depolymerization and typically require chemical crosslinking to attain elastomeric properties. Here we report a modular synthesis to access non-carbon heteroatomic backbone polymers (PTeSiO) featuring periodic Si\u0026ndash;O\u0026ndash;Te\u0026ndash;O linkages. This copolymerization merges Si\u0026ndash;O and Te\u0026ndash;O as building blocks, enabling a one-pot, room-temperature aqueous route to high-molecular-weight, transparent elastomers with precise control over backbone composition and side-chain architecture. Main-chain engineering via redox-labile Te\u0026ndash;O motifs enables chemoselective backbone scission under mild reductive conditions, affording on-demand polymerization\u0026ndash;depolymerization cycles with efficient monomer recovery. The semi-flexible backbones and strong chain entanglement impart elasticity, thermoplastic processability, and side-chain-dependent mechanical performance. This work establishes a modular and general chemical strategy for creating non-carbon heteroatomic backbones as a design principle for sustainable and recyclable silicone materials.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Recyclable Silicone Elastomers from Non-Carbon Heteroatomic Polymer Backbones","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-11 07:18:13","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7905289/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-communications","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"NCOMMS","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Communications](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://mts-ncomms.nature.com/","title":"Nature Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Communications","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"ab090283-80e2-431f-aa85-779066dd7972","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 11th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":56635421,"name":"Physical sciences/Chemistry/Polymer chemistry"},{"id":56635422,"name":"Physical sciences/Chemistry/Materials chemistry"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-11-11T07:18:13+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-11 07:18:13","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7905289","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7905289","identity":"rs-7905289","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}