Observation of silyl radical in γ-radiolysis of solid poly(dimethylsilane)

The present work reports the observation of silyl radicals induced by γ-irradiation of solid polysilane. In spite of extensive studies of the photo- and radiation chemistry on oligosilane molecules, there have been few studies on high molecular weight polysilane. Several previous studies of photolysis of polysilanes have suggested that the predominant intermediates should be silyl radicals generated by homolysis of the silicon skeleton of polysilanes. However, the direct observation of silyl radical formation has not been reported. Irradiation of solid poly(dimethysilane) with γ-rays induced EPR signals that are explained by silyl radical formation as a result of main chain scission in polysilane.