ABSTRACT
Background: Silorane, introduced to the dentistry recently. It is named after the functional groups present in the material i.e. Siloxane and Oxirane. It is introduced in the market to overcome the main problems of composite resins i.e. Polymerization shrinkage. Claims are being made that the polymerization shrinkage have been overcome in the material and the material results in less than 1% polymerization shrinkage. The material claims to have properties which may fulfil the criteria of being the ideal restorative materials of all times
Objective: To confirm the presence of Siloxane and Oxirane in the chemical structure of the Silorane by Fourier Transform Infra-red [FTIR] and Raman Spectroscopy
Methods: Solvation of Silorane was done in Tetrahydrofuran [THF] using the magnetic stirrer. After the evaporation of THF, the resultant powder was then evaluated under the FTIR and Raman Spectroscopy
Results: The FTIR spectrum of Silorane shows some primary reference bands in the spectrum of Silorane and shows the absorption of primary oxirane bands. The peaks indicated the presence of Siloxane bands and CH groups. Raman spectrum of Silorane confirming the presence of _ phase of Siloxane. The peaks show the presence of O-Si-O and C = C group
Conclusion: The FTIR and Raman spectrums confirms the presence of Siloxane and Oxirane bands which results in low polymerisation shrinkage due to the cationic ring opening mechanism when compared with methacrylates which polymerises via a free radical mechanism