Studies on sodium silicate solutions by the method of trimethylsilylation

The method of trimethylsilylation was used to study anion distributions in sodium silicate solutions with Na2O: SiO2 ratios of 1:1 and 1:3.41 at various concentrations. The polysiloxanes produced were characterised, mainly by g.l.c., g.p.c. and C and H analyses, to give a picture of the anion distribution in the original solution. The results were compared with those from previous studies. The observations of earlier workers—that the degree of polymerisation increases with increasing concentration and decreasing soda:silica ratio—were confirmed.