Synthesis and Characterization of Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with Medium Viscosity via Ring-Opening Polymerization

Duration of use and injectability are external factors for Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) that needs to be considered when PDMS utilized as a vitreous substituted liquid in vitreoretinal surgery. In general, PDMS which has been used as a substitute for vitreous humour is PDMS with a low viscosity in the value about 1000 cSt and a high viscosity at a value of about 5000 cSt. Various deficiencies have been encountered from low and high viscosity of PDMS, causing research to be continued to obtain PDMS which has suitable properties as a substitute for vitreous humour. One of them is research to obtain medium viscosity of PDMS with a viscosity value of about 2000 cSt. Here, we reported synthesis and characterization of PDMS with medium viscosity in ranges from 1800 to 2600 mPas. PDMS was synthesized through Ring-Opening Polymerization (ROP) pathway using the monomer of Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) and the chain terminator of Hexamethyldisiloxane (MM). Various concentrations of potassium hydroxide (KOH) of 3, 4, 6 and 8 %(w/v) were applied as initiator to form gel of PDMS. All synthesized PDMS samples were identified to have viscosity values of 1800-2600 mPas, refractive index values of 1.4042-1.4044 and surface tension values of 22-23 mN/m. Meanwhile, the results of Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) measurement showed that the absorption peaks were similar to that of our previous report.