Chemical development of preceramic polyvinylsilazane photoresist for ceramic patterning

In order to develop a preceramic photoresist for the fabrication of non-oxide SiCN ceramic microstructures by a mold-free photocuring shaping process, UV sensitive acrylate functional groups were successfully grafted onto the backbone of polyvinylsilazane by its reaction with ethyl-4-bromocrotonate via a high efficiency allyl bromide electrophilic substitution process. The as-modified polymer was characterized by ¹H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (¹H-NMR) and 2D-¹H-¹H-NMR (COSY) spectroscopy, and its UV sensitivity was investigated by Differential PhotoCalorimetry (DPC) and Fourier Transform InfraRed (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The reaction mechanism was discussed in detail and the results showed that the as-modified polyvinylsilazane (m-PVSZ) is a promising preceramic photoresist.