Interaction of isocyanates with aqueous solutions of alkali metal silicates

The products formed upon curing of organosilicate mixtures, containing lithium, sodium, and potassium silicates and isocyanates, were studied by IR spectroscopy. It is shown that both the general course of the curing reaction and the yield of different products are determined by the nature and composition of silicates: a greater size of the alkali metal cation favors an increasing process rate and a higher yield of the corresponding isocyanurate and silicon-containing urethane-like structures. A mechanism is proposed that explains the stabilization of the inverse emulsion by silicate chains and amphiphilic compounds formed during the process.