Recyclable thermoplastic silicone elastomers from non-carbon heteroatomic polymer backbones

Silicone materials are indispensable across industrial and consumer domains, yet their robust Si–O–Si backbones resist depolymerization and typically require chemical crosslinking to attain elastomeric properties. Here we report a modular synthesis to access non-carbon heteroatomic backbone polymers (PTeSiO) featuring periodic Si–O–Te–O linkages. This copolymerization merges Si–O and Te–O as building blocks, enabling a one-pot, room-temperature aqueous route to high-molecular-weight, transparent elastomers with precise control over backbone composition and side-chain architecture. Main-chain engineering via redox-labile Te–O motifs enables chemoselective backbone scission under mild reductive conditions, affording on-demand polymerization–depolymerization cycles with efficient monomer recovery. The semi-flexible backbones and chain entanglement impart elasticity, thermoplastic processability, and side-chain-dependent mechanical performance. This work establishes a modular and general chemical strategy for creating non-carbon heteroatomic backbones as a design principle for sustainable and recyclable silicone materials. Polysiloxane elastomers require chemical crosslinking and show poor depolymerization. Here, the authors report tellurium containing polysiloxane copolymers featuring periodic Si–O–Te–O backbones. They possess good mechanical properties without the need for crosslinking and undergo depolymerization under mild conditions.