Silicone

A silicone is a polymeric material with a silicon-oxygen backbone bearing organic substituents, commonly methyl groups. Polydimethylsiloxane is a familiar example.

Backbone flexibility, side groups, chain length, and crosslinking determine whether the material behaves as a fluid, gel, or elastic solid. Silicone is a polymer family and should be distinguished from elemental silicon and inorganic silicon dioxide.

A polymer with a repeating Si–O backbone and organic substituents at silicon. Its backbone is flexible but lacks a partly occupied electronic conduction band.

A flexible silicone polymer that can form an elastomer when lightly crosslinked. The network's recoverable deformation provides an example of rubber elasticity.