The Polymer Society of Korea

Abstract

Silicone elastomers are essential in modern applications due to their flexibility and durability, yet most are based on permanently cross-linked poly(dimethylsiloxane), making them fundamentally unrecyclable. In this work, we introduce a one-step synthetic approach to a recyclable silicone elastomer, cross-linked poly(carbosiloxane) (cPC₂SO), whose mechanical properties can be systematically tuned. By incorporating two carbon atoms into each repeating unit, PC₂SO achieves enhanced softness and stretchability while preserving the ability to undergo selective depolymerization into its original monomer. This depolymerization enables closed-loop recycling, allowing the elastomer to be recovered even from mixed plastic waste and reprocessed into functional silicone materials. Our results demonstrate that cPC₂SO overcomes the trade-off between mechanical performance and recyclability, providing a practical design strategy for chemically circular silicone networks.