Synthesis and characterization of B-C polymer hollow microspheres from a new organodecaborane preceramic polymer

A new poly (norbornenyldecaborane-co-hexadiene) (P(NB-co-DE)) copolymer, as a kind of boron carbide preceramic polymer, was synthesized by the ruthenium-catalyzed ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) reaction of 6-norbornenyldecaborane with 1,5-hexadiene. The synthesized polymer precursor which had good solubility and film-forming ability was freely soluble in most organic solvents and had a high ceramic yield of 74% at 700 degrees C. Furthermore, this polymer precursor was used to fabricate B-C hollow microspheres by microencapsulation. The prepared capsules with a diameter of about 570 mm had the potential to yield hollow B-C based ceramic microspheres, and they could be used in the polymeric state or pyrolyzed ceramic forms.